The Queen and The Peasant
by goldfish demon
Summary: It had started as honest fun, a drawn out joke for some laughs. She'd done similar things a hundred times before. But when circumstances change and emotions get invested, will she be able to step back and deliver the punchline?
1. Chapter 1

First day at Sheffield 

It was the first day of the new school year and the halls of Sheffield Institute were buzzing with chatter. Friends comparing schedules, bullies catching up with their targets from last year, and just chatter in general.

Like most schools, Sheffield was divided into many sections: popular people, jocks, nerds, loners, goths, retards, gays, and geeks.

One such nerd was Taranee Cook. Taranee was an exception to most of the rules of highschool. Not only was she a nerd, but she was also of the popular group. She was actually one of the closest friends of the most popular girl in school: Cornelia Hale.

To the populars and jocks, Cornelia was their queen, their goddess. All the guys wanted her and all the girls wanted to be her.

And why shouldn't that be the way it was. Cornelia was the most beautiful person many people had ever had the pleasure of looking upon. Her eyes were a beautiful crystal blue that could entrance someone if they looked to deeply. Her shining blonde hair, always flawless; cascaded it's way down her slender figure to halfway down her back. Most of the male population of the school, and all of the gay female population would like nothing better than to squeeze and lick her pert breasts and nipples all day long. The male population of the school would like few things better than to have her silky smooth legs wrapped around their waist as they thrusted into her. 

However, by the rest of the social classes, she was regarded as their queen alright. The queen bitch of the universe.

Cornelia Hale was ruthless when it came to those beneath her on the social ladder. Some of her pranks were the stuff of highschool legend. Who would ever forget the humiliation of Richard Wood.

Richard Wood had once been a jock. But when Cornelia started losing her adoring fans to him and his prowees on the basketball court, his secret was blown in front of the entire populaton of the Sheffield Institute. Richard Wood was a gay.

His entire following had abandoned him, dumped him on the street as if he were a piece of trash. A choclate bar wrapper of a bar that they had found good, but of course, when it was done, it was done and the wrapper was useless.

Taranee managed to plough through the wall of students to the window where Cornelia and her other best friend, Irma Lare were sitting. " Hey guys, how was summer? " Taranee said breathlessly.

" I can't really complain. " Irma nonchalantly. " Nothing really exciting happened, but nothing horrrible happened either. " Taranee turned her gaze to Cornelia.

"I spent most of June in Spain, we went to Madrid and I got to see my first bullfight." Cornelia said. " It was kinda freaky actually. " She admitted. " I also got to see some pretty tasty looking Spanish eye candy. " Her face put on a lustfull expression and she eyed some of the guys in the hall. " You? "

" Mine was pretty much the same as Irma's. We went to visit my aunt in Lesotho, but we do that every year so it wasn't really exciting. " Taranee explained.

" Not exciting! " Irma shouted, turning a few heads. " I didn't get to do anything all summer! Both of you got to get off of the continent, I was stuck sitting at home watching re-runs. " She folded her arms across her chest and put on a pouting face.

" Oh come on Irma, " Cornelia pleaded. " so I got to see some hot spanish guys and watch some guy get rammed into a wall by a large, angry bull. I didn't get to see either of you though. " She wrapped her arms around the shoulders of Irma and Taranee and pulled them into a tight hug.

" Woah, girl! " Irma laughed. " You may be hot, but I just don't swing that way. "

Cornelia punched her in the arm hard than she would have if it had been jokingly. " Dont' compare me to those gay freaks! " She said somewhat loudly, catching the attention of a few people. But there was one that Cornelia's gaze seemed to center on.

The girl was walking buy as she had heard Cornelia's outburst. She had short, deep red hair, and was about 5'4 with chocolate brown eyes that resonated with lonliness. Her face was strikingly beautiful even in it's look of eternal lonliness and Cornelia couldn't help but think that she would be even more beautiful if she only knew how to smile. Of course, she scolded herself mentally for thinking such things.

For someone of her size, her chest was surprisingly filled out. Her waist managed to curve perfectly, exactly where it should and her legs were hard to get a good grasp of at that moment because of the baggy jeans she was wearing.

Her chocolate brown eyes finally connected with Cornelia's sapphire blue ones, it was entrancing. It seemed that neither of them were able to look away. Eventually the girl blushed and turned away, breaking the enchanting eye contact and hurried her way down the hallway; allowing Cornelia to regain her bearings.

" Who...was that? " Cornelia managed to ask after a few seconds of silence.

" I dunno. " Taranee responded plainly. " Probably just one of the new arrivals. We did get about seven hundred of them this year alone. " 

" You've got to be kidding me. Seven hundred! " Irma asked incredulously. " I didn't even think we had that many students here. This isn't really a big town you know. "

" Most standard high schools don't just take students from their own city. They most often take in kids from all the surrounding cities; sometimes they get up to three hundred new arrivals for just one grade. " Taranee explained. " And, seeing as Sheffield goes all the way from elementary to high school, we get even more new arrivals than that every year; whether they come from moving into town and transferring here or they just start their first day of school ever here. "

" Oh, well now that you look at it that way , seven hundred seems kinda average. "Irma said.

Just then the bell rang signaling the start of first period. " Aaaaw shit, we're late. " Cornelia complained. " Well, I guess I'll see you two at lunch. " Cornelia headed off to her English class while Taranee and Irma headed towards their science class.

(11th Grade English class)

" Ms. Harper, you are late, now as this is the first day, your tardiness will be tolerated. " The professor, Mr. O'Brien scolded Cornelia as she walked through the door, smiling sheepishly. 

"However, if you continue to show the same disregard for the rules, you will be punished. Now take your seat. "

Someone opened the door that Cornelia had closed and walked into the room. " Aaah, Ms.? "

" Vandom. " She stated simply. " Will Vandom. " It was the same girl that had drawn Cornelia's gaze before class.

" Aaah yes, Ms. Vandom. Now, since you and Ms. Hale seem to be such good friends, why don't you take those two empty seats at the window. " Mr. O'Brien indicated two desks by the window, about midway down the row.

" Fine by me. " Will said emotionlessly and took the seat closer to the back.

' Grrrrr, stupid Will. ' Cornelia growled to herself. ' Taking the seat closer to the back. What kind of name is Will for a girl anyway? Sounds more like some cross dressing weirdo to me. '

(lunch 1:30pm)

" So ladies, any news to report? " Cornelia questioned Taranee and Irma as they sat down at their usual lunch table.

" There's this really hot guy in my history class and I think he likes me. " Irma went off into temporary lala land.

Taranee brought Irma back down by clapping her hands in front of her face. " What makes you think he likes you? " She took a swig of her pop.

" Well, he kept looking at me all the time and licking his lips in this kinda creepy but really sexy way. " Irma looked as if she owned the universe.

" I don't mean to burst your bubble Irm, but I'm not so sure he likes you so much as he wants you. " Cornelia took a bite of her bagel after finishing this statement.

" Yeah well, have you ever considered the fact that maybe I'm just that shallow. That maybe I want him more than like him myself. " Irma said.

" Well Irma, that's just stupid. " Taranee commented.

" What's stupid? " Said a masculine voice from behind Irma.

Irma turned around to see a very handsome brown haired boy smiling at her and her, Cornelia and Taranee. " Oh, hi C-Caleb. " Irma found herself nervous and blushing lightly.

" Hey Irma, Taranee, Cornelia. " He smiled at Cornelia as he said her name.

" Hey Caleb. " Taranee and Cornelia said in unison.

Caleb Wilson was the most popular male being in the entirety of the Sheffield Institute. His status matched only by Cornelia. Caleb however, was not as ruthless and diabolical as his female counterpart.

" So girls, what's goin' on? " Caleb asked, sitting down across from Cornelia.

" Oh you know, same old same old. " Taranee said. " Hanging out at the window, being late for class, nothing really new.

" Cool, mind if I sit down? " Caleb asked.

" Absolutely not! Sit away. " Irma blurted strangely; gesturing to the open seat next to her.

" Uh, Irm, are you okay? You seem kinda strange. " Cornelia gave her a strange look.

" Yeah, I'm okay, nothing's wrong. I'm absolutely fine hehehehe. " Irma exclaimed quickly and loudly. 

" If you say so. " Caleb said as he sat down. " So, you're telling me that not one interesting thing has happened all day? "

" Uh, Caleb? We live in Heather field, nothing interesting ever happens here. Ever. " Cornelia looked at him as if to say ' Are you a moron? '

" Plus being at school doesn't help the boredom does it? " Irma added.

" No I guess it doesn't. " Caleb sighed.

" Well, there is something. " Cornelia said. " It's not really interesting per se, but it's at least noteworthy. "

" What's up Corny? " Irma asked.

" There's this one girl who's been in every single one of my classes so far. And I told you to stop calling me that! " She glared at Irma.

" So she's in some of your classes, no reason to get your panties in a knot. " Irma laughed as Cornelia puffed up in anger.

" Will you shut up for once! " Cornelia shouted, turning a few heads.

" Cornelia, Irma's right. " Taranee said. " Just because you've got someone in a bunch of your classes is no reason to get all paranoid. "

" Yeah, I guess you're right. " Cornelia smiled. " But you could have voiced your opinion a bit differently. " She glared at Irma once more and finished off her bagel.

Just then the warning bell rang. " Well, I'd better get going. " Cornelia stood up grabbed her bag, and exited the cafeteria.

When she arrived at her final class of the day, she saw the door open and entered. There was already a good number of people there, but one caught her eye. Sitting alone at the back of the room was Will. The very same Will that had been in all her classes that day. ' This is going to be a long semester. ' Cornelia thought drearily. 


	2. Chapter 2

Review responses

Ro: Thanks for the encouragement. I'm actually trying to make Cornelia harsh. As she is the 'Queen' of the school, she has a reputation to uphold and will do so ravenously.

Rampage33: I appreciate your enthusiasm.

The Puppeteer: I'm glad you liked it, and I'd very much like to have someone to beta read my chapters. However, this is not a Will/Caleb. Sorry.

New Home

Will yawned a large yawn as she woke up, feeling thoroughly miserable. She and her mother had only been living in Heatherfield for a week and already she hated the city. Once again she had moved to a town where mob mentality ruled the masses and everone was ruled by the rich. Her school had been proof enough of that.

Her first day at school was yesterday and she could already tell that she would be alone at school all year long. No Friends, no significant other; just like last year, and the year before that, and the year before that, all up until she was twelve. Not that she minded it of course. She had been dealing with being alone for four years.Her relationship with her mother had begun to slip as soon as they started moving around so that they were never in one place for a whole year.

Will had once had vast hordes of friends and admirers and one best friend. Elyon Brown had been best friends with Will when they were twelve. Will had harboured more than friendly affections for her Elyon and had planned on telling her friend how she felt. Then Elyon died. With her best friend dead, Will's stability began to slip. She lost all of her friends and admirers

Then her mother decided to start moving all over the place, dislodging Will from everything she had ever known. She started working all the time, leaving Will alone or with some random sitter.

And just a week ago, they had made their ways to Heatherfield, and though Will hated the city, she could take some comfort in knowing that she might be staying for a while. Her mother actually seemed to like the city and was joining as many groups as she could. And Will had found her own sanctuary.

The H.O.H.S. or Homosexuals of Heatherfield Society was a place where Will - or any person with attractions to their own sex for that matter - could go without any fear of being discriminated against; or a place to live if they were forcibly removed from their homes when they came out to their parents. Will had spent as much time there as possible and had gotten to know some of the residents of the building quite well.

There was Rose Dawson, the kind old lady who ran the place. She was a billionaire who had moved to Heatherfield thirty years ago. She had more than enough money for her own good so she decided to fund the society.

The two that she spent the most amount of time with were Richard Wood And Will Crosser, two of the guys who lived in the dorms on the upper floors. They had both graduated school two years ago and were each other's boyfriend. Both their parents had been stuck up semi-rich people who couldn't stand the idea of having a gay child and so they kicked them out of their respective houses.

" WILL! Wake up! Breakfast is ready! " Screamed her mother, Susan from downstairs.

" I'm Coming! " Will shouted back and set about getting dressed. She chose a typical choice of attire for herself. Which consisited of a black T-shirt with an unzipped, grey sweater overtop of it. A pair of dark blue jeans, some socks, and her only pair of shoes, which were dark crimson running shoes with white highlights.

Before she made her way down the stairs, Will looked at herself in the mirror just outside of her room. It wasn't that she actually cared what she looked like, it was more out of habit than anything. Finishing her habitual self inspection, Will made her way slowly down the small flight of stairs and into the main area of the apartment that she shared with her mother.

" Oh Will, I do wish you'd wear something different for a change. " Susan, Will's mother said as Will entered the main area. " All the clothes you ever wear anymore are so dreary. If you really wanted to make some friends, you should dress a little nicer. "

" Mom, I already told you, I don't care about making friends. And for the last time, I don't wear pink, or any other of those disgustingly bright colours. So put away whatever outfit you're about to show me and don't comment on the way I dress okay? Thanks for breakfast. " Will said, grabbing a piece of toast and walking out the door; leaving her mother with her hand still in the bag of clothes she had bought.

' Stupid mom. ' Will thought as the elevator began its descent to the bottom floor of her apartment building. ' Maybe she'd know that I hate colourful stuff if she'd cared to be home long enough to find out. You could probably call up any of my old sitters and they'd know more about what I like than she does. Not that I really liked any of them either. '

' God I'm glad yesterday was Friday. Kind of a stupid day to have the first day of school on though. ' The elevator reached the ground floor and Will promptly exited the building. ' Seriously, Out of all the schools I've ever been to, the first day of the year was never a friday. There are a few things I like about this school though, like that blonde girl. What was her name... Cornelia, that was it. '

' It's a real shame though, ' Will thought as she continued walking to nowhere in particular. ' She didn't seem like someone who's into girls. Plus, even if she was I heard that she's pretty much the queen of the entire school, and I'm just some peasant. Some weird, lesbian peasant; I wouldn't have a chance with her even if she was a lesbian. '

Will smiled inwardly as she thought of Cornelia. Her perfectly crafted body, her pale, heart shaped face, her lush, pink lips, the way her silky blonde hair hung elegantly down her back, the way her tight little ass swayed as she walked. ' I could go on for hours, ' Will thought to herself with a naughty look on her face. ' But what would that accomplish? '

Will stopped in front of the H.O.H.S. building. ' I guess here's as good a place as any. ' She thought as she walked up the cement steps and through the large, oak doors.

Will smiled for the first time that day. Inside the building was where Will felt more at home than anywhere else in all of Heatherfield. It was the only place where she felt she could truly be herself without being discriminated against. She took a look around the main room, looking for something she could do. Almost immediatly, her eyes fell upon her favourite couch. On the aforementioned couch was a girl who could be no older than fifteen. She had a very small frame, and jet black hair, styled into two pigtails that reached all the way down her back to her ass.

She appeared to be of chinese descent and had a look on her face that was not far off from the look Will commonly wore. The look that said ' I'm depressed, so go the hell away. ' It soon came to Will's attention that someone else had noticed the young chinese girl; it was Natasha, one of the girls who lived upstairs.

Natasha and her friends were most commonly known throughout the building for their constant and loud sexual activities. They often tried to bring other girls into their circle; they most often preyed upon newcomers, presumably to give the newcomers a sense of acceptance. Will tried to stop them at every opportunity and she was not about to let this young girl be pulled into Natasha's circle of orgies.

By the time Will reached the couch, Natasha was already there, talking to the young chinese girl. " So, " Will heard Natasha say. " do you wanna come upstairs to my room and hang out with me and my friends? " She asked, snaking her arm around the girls shoulders.

" Natasha, leave her alone. " Will said. " She's obviously depressed and she doesn't need you hitting on her. "

" Butt out Will. " Natasha spat. " This is none of your business. "

" Well I'm making it my business. Now stop messing with the new girl, go upstairs and screw yourself. Okay? " Will snapped back, shooting Natasha a glare.

" Fine little miss goody goody, I'll leave her alone already. " Natasha snapped, glaring at Will before stomping back upstairs to her room.

Will took a seat on the couch beside the new girl. " Trust me , you don't want to get mixed up with her. She's bad news. I'm Will. " She smiled at the younger girl.

" I'm Hay Lin. " The younger girl answered shyly.

" So, what's your story? Parents kick you out? Ran away in shame? " Will asked.

" I came out to my parents and they got really angry at me. My grandmother was the only one who didn't yell at me. But she didn't say anything to me either. My mom yelled at me to get out. She said she didn't care where I went, just as long as I didn't go back there. " A few tears escaped Hay Lin's eyes.

Will looked upon her with pity. Even though she wasn't exactly on good terms with her mother, Will was sure that if she came out to her, that she would not get thrown out of her house. " Well, I can't exactly say that I know what you're going through, but my mom and I aren't exactly on friendly terms at the moment so I'm familiar with at least the yelling part. "

" But she's my mother. Mother's aren't supposed to kick you out of the house. They're supposed to ... Oh I don't know what they're supposed to do! But they're not supposed to kick you out! " The tears were flowing in full force now and Will could do nothing but hold Hay Lin as she cried.

Suddenly Will had an idea. " Hey, did you bring any luggage with you at all? She asked, removing the young chinese girls head from her chest. Hay Lin nodded and pointed at the bag beside her on the couch. " Great, now come with me, I've got somewhere you can stay. You don't mind rooming with a pair of guys do you? " Hay Lin shook her head no. " Awesome. "

Will stood up off the couch and, taking Hay Lin by the hand led her through the maze of people and assorted toys that littered the floor and to the stairs. They had to walk up three flights of stairs before they reached the hallway Will was looking for. Will led Hay Lin to the third door on the left of the hallway and began knocking furiously.

" Yeeeessss madam? " A boy of at least eightenn years of age asked in a bad british accent.

" Will, open the door and let us in. " Will ordered.

" Who's us. " Will asked, peering around outside the doorway.

" Me and a new friend of mine. " Will responded, moving to her left to allow Will a proper view of Hay Lin. " Where's Rich? He usually does the butler bit. "

" He's taking a shower. " Will said, dropping the accent and opening the door; aloowing the two girls entrance. " Now, what did you need to talk about? "

" I was just wondering if you and Rich wouldn't mind taking Hay Lin here as your room mate. " Will suggested, entering the room with Hay Lin following timidly behind.

" Yeah I guess I wouldn't mind lwetting some new blood into the room. I'll have to okay it with Rich though. He'll be back... now. " Will said as the door opened and Richard or 'Rich' walked in. " Hey Rich whaddya think of letting Will's friend Hay Lin here room with us. "

" Sure, I got no objections. She can have the other bed all to herself. " Rich turned to Hay Lin. " Welcome to the family Hay Lin. "

Hay Lin took a look around her new roomand the realization finally hit her that she had found a new home and a new family. When that fact finally did hit home, She cracked the largest smile Will had ever seen. 


	3. Chapter 3

Review Responses:

ErthGrl9870: Well, I'm glad that you like the story, this one seems to be quickly becoming my most popular story out there. As for the updates, I do have other stories to work on, but I'll try to keep them coming as fast as I can.

Amaya: Thanks for the support. I'm planning on a Cornelia/Will, with a bit of Will/Hay Lin thrown in there for the fun of it.

DemonZanite: I'll try.

Katrina Gomez: I made there be a second Will for the sole purpose of confusing people. Expect more of it in the future. And I had to get Hay Lin to the Shelter somehow, and that was the first idea that came to me. Depending on what you mean by good stuff, I'm planning on it getting here around chapter 5.

Zelene2004: Thanks for the enthusiasm. I wrote this as Cornelia/Will for the sole reason that there was absolutely none of it.

Cornelia's #1 fan: Sorry, this is Cornelia/Will all the way. Cornelia/Caleb is way over appreciated in my opinion.

Jamesstuz: Thanks.

hiddensoullover: Yeah, I get lazy like that too. I know the pairing seems a little different, but that's why I wrote it. As to the Hay Lin part, There will be Minor W/HL, but it will be extremely minor, noting but a tad of overfriendliness. I actually haven't planned on any serious interaction between Corny and Will until chapter four or maybe five. Thanks for the support.

The Way Things go

Cornelia awoke that Saturday morning, not to the noise of her alarm clock; but to the noise of he seven year old sister, Lillian. " Wake up Cornelia! Wake up Cornelia! Wake up Cornelia! " Lillian screamed in her seventeen year old sisters face.

" Wake up Cornelia! " She screamed again until Cornelia's eyes pooped open, irritation clearly visible. " Wake up Corn- Uh-oh. Aaaaaaah! "

Cornelia slapped a hand over her sisters mouth. " What do you want you little toad! " She growled. " Ooowww! "

Lillian bit Cornelia's hand and ran to the door of the bedroom. " Your friends are here. " She flashed her older sister a huge grin before slamming the door behind her and running down the hall to her own room and locking the door.

' Juuust great. ' Cornlia thought bitterly. ' Ten minutes until noon and Lillian is already annoying the hell out of me. Might as well get ready though, seeing as I'm awake. '

Corenlia stood up out of her bed and set about getting dressed. Locating a proper outfit was a bit of a challenge if you were Cornelia though. Her room was always a disaster zone and today was no different. Clothes were strewn all over the room, making it impossible to see the floor in some places. Pages upon pages of homework were everywhere, some of it dating back as far as the previous october.

One of her ice skates was hanging haphazardly underneath the window and the other was nowhere to be found. Her old skating trophies were overtunred and some of them were also on the floor.

Despite all of this mess however, Cornelia managed to locate a decent Saturday ensemble. An emerald green sleeveless top that did up around her neck and showed off just a tiny bit of cleavage. That paired with a pair of somewhat tight fitting (especially around the rear) pair of blue jeans and a beautiful white belt with a 5k gold buckle.

' Hmm, not too conservative as too not get me any attention, yet not too slutty as to attract losers and drive off some better guys. And that belt adds just a hint of class to it all. Not too shabby. ' Cornelia told herself as she made her way out of her room to the main area of her penthouse apartment.

Lillian, never being one to lie, (rather, she was one to be truthfull to the point of annoyance) was right again as Cornelia entered the living room to find Taranee and Irma calmly watching T.V. ' I'l just get something to eat before attending to those two. '

Not being one to eat much, all Cornelia grabbed was a red delicious out of the fruit basket on her kitchen counter. Apple in hand, Cornelia snuck up behind Irma and Taranee, both of whom had there eyes glued to the T.V. watching ' Boy Comet. ' She harshly layed one hand on each of her friends shoulders, causing Taranee, who was always a tad jumpy, jump about a foot off of the couch, and Irma to scream in terror.

Irma turned around with an angry look on her face, axpecting to see Lillian smiling her cheeks off at her. Instead, she found herslef glaring at Cornelia. " Oh, hey Corny. " She laughed, her glare letting up. " I thought you were your little sister for a second there. "

" You actually thought I was Lillian. Now that hurts. " She took a bite of her apple.

" Jeez Cornelia, how many times do I have to tell you not to scare me like that? " Taranee said angrily, claming down now.

" Ooops, sorry Taranee, couldn't resist and all that. " Cornelia used her favourite excuse for when she did something undesireable to her friends. " Anyway let's get out of here, It's Saturday afternoon after the first day of school and I don't plan on spending it cooped up inside. Let's go to the mall or go to the park or something. I'm not sitting around all day. "

" Okay Okay, stop your whining Corny we'll get going if you'll promise to shut up about it. " Irma was beginning to get aggravated.

Satisfied, Cornelia finshed off her apple and trashed the core into the trash. Irma made rather a performance of getting off of Cornelia's couch before following Cornelia and Taranee to the front door and donning her shoes quickly so as not to miss the elevator to the ground floor.

Cornelia smirked to herself as she saw Irma running towards the door of the elevator. Irma was about to run into the closing doors and Cornelia still had not granted her request to hold them. " Cornelia, keep them open. " Taranee asked, slightly exasperated.

Sighing, Cornelia stuck her foot into the small gap left between the doors of the elevator and the wall so that the doors slid back open. Irma however, had been paying far too much attention to the doors and did not see that Cornelia was stopping them from closing. This resulted in her suddenly putting on the brakes as she reached the the doors and immediately starting to move again as she noticed that they were opening. Due to the quick changes of speed, Irma fell face first into the elevator car. her face landing beside Cornelia's feet.

" Cornelia! Wha did you do that for! " Irma demanded angrily, getting up and dusting off her jacket and jeans.

" I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about Irma. I kept the doors open just like you were shouting at me to. You were the one that fell on her face into the elevator. I had absolutely nothing to do with it. "

" Oh ho, so you had nothing to do with it eh! I'll bet you stuck your foot in the door just when I was about to reach them. You knew it would make me fall and that's why you did it! "

" Well unfortunately for your argument Irma, none of us have the ability to read minds so there is absolutely no way you can prove it. " She stuck her tongue out at Irma.

While all of this was going on, Taranee pressed the button to close the doors and te button that would take them to the ground floor from Cornelia's penthouse apartment. " Oh for the love of God, would you two stop already? " She scolded her friends. " It's barely past noon and you're already arguing about something stupid. "

Irma and Cornelia both muttered a quiet, ' Sorry Taranee ' as the elevator continued its descent.

It was a long and rather akward elevator ride. ' That's how it's always been. ' Cornelia thought. ' Irma or I does or says something mean, we get into an argument, Taranee tells us off and it's akward for a good five minutes afterwards. '

The elevator hit the bottom stopped, sending a jolt through the stomachs of Cornelia, Irma and Taranee. The three exited the elvator and building in silence. he three walked for about a block before someone broke the silence.

" Well, I don't know about you two but I felt lie I was gonna suffocate on the tension in that elevator. " Irma said in her usual fashion, which was loud and casual. " I mean seriously, who cares about a little thing like falling into an elevator, really? "

' That always how it is. ' Cornelia continued her train of thought from back in the elevator. ' After our little spats Irma always breaks the silence first and says something along the lines of her not caring then I agree with her and we go off and buy something. All this repetition is really starting to get boring. '

" Yeah, you're right, it doesn't really matter, how 'bout we hit the mall girls? " Cornelia proposed.

Irma face immediately brightened and Taranne looked satisfied that her friends had stopped arguing once again.

It was an ordinary Saturday in Heatherfield. The sun was out shining with minimal cloud cover, the seagulls were visible over to the east, where the city's beach was located. All the people that weren't at work, sleeping, or glued to their T.V's were out and about doing one thing or another. Not to mention that most of the city's teenage population were making their way to, or already at the Heatherfield mall.

By the time that Cornelia, Irma and Taranee arrived, it was quarter to one and the proverbial party was in full swing. " So, where do you girls wanna go first? " Cornelia asked.

" Let's go get a smoothie from that new place that just opened up. " Irma indicated a small shop wit a green sign above the entryway that read ' Juicy Lu '

" Sure why not? " Taranee commetned and the trio made their way to the smoothie shop. Which had very few customers considering they had only just opened three days ago.

" Good morning, ladies, what can I get you? " Asked a startingly familiar voice from behind the counter.

" Caleb, what the heck are you doing working at a smoothie joint in the mall? " Cornelia asked disdainfully.

" My parents cut my allowance because I was ' wasting ' it instead of putting it away for school. So I was forced to get a job and this place hired me straight away. " Caleb explained. " So here I am, what can I get you girls? "

" I'll have a small Passion berry temptation. " Cornelia ordered.

" I'll take the same but a large. " Irma said. "

" I'll have the small Rasberry paradise. " Taranee asked.

" It'll take a few minutes. " Caleb said before setting about his work. Five minutes passed and Caleb placed one large sized cups and two smalls onto the counter. Will you be paying seperately or together? "

" Together. " Cornelia said shortly as she pulled out her wallet, Irma and Taranne following suit.

" Alright then, that comes to $11.76 all together. " He collected the twelve dollars and doled out the change. " $.24 is your change, thank you and have a nice day. "

Cornelia collected the change and deposited it into her wallet before she exited the small smoothie shop quickly, Irma and Taranee followed as usual.

A few minutes later, Cornelia, Irma, and Taranee were sitting in the food court slurping their smoothies. " Well, I didn't expect to see Caleb working at a smoothie shop. " Cornelia said, the condescension evident in her voice as she said smoothie shop.

" Well it's more than you can say you've done. " Taranee spoke out. " You've been living off your parents for your entire life. You should be out there looking for jobs Cornelia. "

' That's right, ' Cornelia thought. ' Taranee's always been the only one brave enough to contradict me on anything. And she always does it too. And here's where I respond with something apathetic. '

" Yeah, yeah, I've done just fine living off my parents for seventeen years and I'm not too concerned about getting a job. "

" Yeah, only because your parents are rich as hell. " Taranee shot back laughingly.

" Well isn't that the pot calling the kettle black. Ms. judge for a mom lawyer for a dad." Cornelia spat. She hated being insulted, especially when the insults were hidden inside snide comments.

" Hey, Hey, calm down. I know you guys have issues but maybe screaming at each other in the middle of a crowded mall isn't the best way to resolve them. " Irma urged her friends before their friendly spat elevated to a full fledged scream fest.

Cornelia acquiesced and ceased her glaring at Taranee and instead resigned to drinking her smoothie once again.

" Well, if it isn't my three favourite girls. " Said a cold, almost evil voice from behind Cornelia.

She, Irma, and Taranee turned around in their seats to come face to face with Phobos, the football team's quarterback and his lackey Cedric, the best linebacker the football team had.

" What do you want Phobos? " Cornelia demanded exasperatedly. ' Phobos just has to be everywhere. Ever since grade nine, the guy's been stalking me I swear it. I see him at least once a day now. If I didn't I'd feel relieved but a tad wierded out. '

" Why I want what I always want dear Cornelia. Just a friendly chat. " He moved his mouth to erear and whispered seductively. " And maybe just a little bit extra. " While he whispered to her, his right hand was occupied discovering the mysteries Cornelia's inner thigh.

Noticing the unwanted tourist on her leg, Cornelia made to slap Phobos as hard as she could. However, Before she let her hand fly, someeone interrupted.

" AAAAAAAH! RAPE! " Irma screeamed as loud as she could. Everyone in the immediate area turned to look at them, and everyone else in the mall who couldn't see them, looked in their general direction.

Obviously not wanting to go any further with his exploration of Cornelia with all these witnesses, not to mention security guards. He quickly stood up and walked away. Whispering " I'll get you for that. " To Irma as he passed her, his dirty blonde hair, longer thasn Cornelia's blew backwards and up when he walked, as if there were some invisible fan in front of him.

There was a long and akward pause in which the passerbys continued to stare for a few moents before shrugging off the incident and returnng to their fomer tasks.

" You know Irma, " Cornelia began. " I could have handled him myself. "

" I know Corny, but it's always so much more fun to make a huge scene about it. " Irma laughed.

' Irma always has been the one who liked the spotlight. I don't think there's ever been an opportunty to make a scene that she missed when she was there. ' 


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Well, I'm back with another chapter. I'm sorry for the long wait, but I've really been swamped by homework lately and I've got so many ideas for different stories that I can't get any of them straight.

Review Responses:

Majesty of dark water: I appreciate your support.

Novei: I hope this is soon enough for you.

angel-1844: Thanks, I give you two cookies, enjoy!

Karina Gomez: Oh well, everything has its highs and its lows right? I knew Phobos had to come in somewhere, and here seemed just as good a place as any.

jamesstutz: Yaay!

Earthgrl9870: I'm always happy to make my readers happy.

FiresOfDeath: I'm glad you think so.

Rain, Embarrasment, and Strange Lunches.

Will groaned as she smacked her alarm clock for the twelfth time that morning. Looking at rhe infernal device, Will saw that it was 6:45 in the morning. ' Stupid mom, she set my clock again. ' She grumbled inwardly as she sat up and rubbed her eyes open. ' Oh well, no point in going back to sleep now is there? ' She thought, getting out of her bed and locating a pair of towels for the shower.

" I hate Monday. " Will muttered bitterly as she stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. As per her habit, Will stripped in front of the bathroom's full body mirror and inspected herself. Her chest, she decided was large for someone of her build, she had curves that would make most girls jealous if she ever let them see, and her legs were simply perfect. " In short, " she whispered to herself. " I am excruciatingly hot, but am quickly losing my sanity. "

Abandoning her morning inspection, Will turned on the water and knelt on the side of the tub, with her hand under the stream of water, waiting for it to heat up. Once the water heated up, Will played with the taps for a brief period, making minute adjustments to the water temperature. When she had the desired adjustments, Will turned on the showerhead, closed the curtain and entered.

Trying not to rush her shower, (she did wake up forty five minutes earlier after all) Will allowed her mind to wander as the warm water cascaded all down her figure. Her expectations for the year had already gone wrong. For she had made a friend at school in Hay Lin; who had told Will that she attended the Sheffield Institute.

Will was not surprised, Sheffield was a gigantic school after all; and one would be almost certainly wrong to assume that someone in Heatherfield that is between the ages of three and eighteen does not attend. Will was just caught off guard was all. After all, her predictions about what the year would hold had never been wrong before now.

Absentmindedly, Will's right hand began slowly slithering southward towards the junction of her legs. Two of her fingers slipped out of sight once there and bagan a rythmic, rubbing motion on the surface of her lower lips, eliciting a shuddering sigh from the girl. " ...mmmmmm " Will moaned quietly under her ministrations.

" ...mmmmm (gasp). Wills fingers ran over her clitoris, causing her to give a sharp gasp of pain and pleasure. The two fingers decided that they were done scratching the surface and dipped themselves into the folds of Will's nether regions. " ...aaaah! " She nearly jumped at the rush, but kept up a slow pumping motion with her two fingers.

Her mind wandered to the blonde, Cornelia. Will's imagination was prohibited by the fog of pleasure and feelings that was invading her brain, but she could still imagine herself and Cornelia together, their bodies , slick with sweat, meshing into each other. Oh, yes, she could feel the pleasure rising in herself, she could feel it bubbling to the surface; she only wished it would hurry up, she was being tortured.

Her fingers, sensing her desire, sped up ther workings, they thrusted themselves deeper into her and harder too. " (pant) ...mmmmmm, ooooooh (gasp) aah, yes! Oh, ooooooh, mmmmmmmm. " Will threw her head back and moaned as she reached her peak. She felt her juices pour out , some falling onto her hand as she brought it back upwards; the rest falling to the floor of the tub.

Her bad day ritual performed, Will set about her usual shower routine. She smothered herslef in soap and rinsed off. She then grabbed her shampoo, soaped up her hair and rinsed it out; before repeating the same thing with the conditioner.

Will turned off the shower head then the main tap, opened the shower curtain and stepped out. She quickly wiped up any excess water on her body and wrapped the towels around her body and head before she marched to her room. 

Will chose a typical monday outfit for her. A pair of black jeans, and a red tank top with her favourite grey sweaterover top; unzipped of course. She mad eher way to the small vanity that was in her room and pulled out from its many drawers, a blowdryer. She partially dried her hair and made ehr way down the small flight of stairs just outside her bedroom.

Not wanting to deal with her mother, Will immediately grabbed her bag at the bottom of the stairs, slipped on her sneakers, and walked out the door; completely ignoring her mother's warnings about the fact that it was pouring down rain outside.

Will walked through the doors of Sheffield institute extremely soaked, extremely irritated, and extremely thankful the she chose her red tank top over her white one. She arrived at her locker in no higher spirits and her mood got even worse when she was pushed from behind so her head was shoved into her locker.

As Will removed her head from her locker, she heard someone behind her giggling. She whirled around to find Hay Lin waiting for her. Her hands were behind her back and she was hanging her head in guilt; but she was still giggling madly and wearing her trademark gigantic smile.

" Sorry, " Hay lin managed through her giggles. " At least you got the locker open before I jumped on you. "

" Yeah, lucky me. Next time a simple 'Hey Will, good morning.' will do just fine. " Will grumbled.

" Aaaaaw, but that's no fun at all. Besides, I like hugging my friends. " As if to demonstrate, she glomped Will yet again. " Hey, you're all wet! " Hay Lin pulled away and glared at Will accusingly. " Silly, didn't you know it was raining? "

" Not until I stepped outside my apartment building. " Will admitted. " And by then it didn't really matter so I kept on walking. "

" You poor thing. I think you need another hug. " She moved in to hug Will again but was stopped by Will's hand on her face. 

" Please, no more hugs. You really- EEEEEWWW! " Hay Lin licked Will's hand and hugged Will when she moved her hand. " Hay Lin, stop. We're both going to be late if you don't let me go, you know that right? "

Hay Lin looked at her watch and screamed. " OH MY GOD! I'm sooooooo gonna be late! Bye Will! " Will was not the only one watching as Hay Lin took off down the hallway like a bat out of hell.

As Will turned her head back towards her locker, she locked eyes with Cornelia again. It was just like the last time the two locked gazes; Will found herslef unable to look away, subconsciously afraid that if she did, something terrible would happen. Will was so enthralled that she didn't notice Irma whispering soemthing in Cornelia's ear.

Will watched on as Cornelia smirked, still staring directly at her and made her way over to Will. Will was roused from her thoughts as the bell rang. Realizing that she was late for class, Will quickly snapped her head to her locker, hastily shoved her books in her bag, and made excellent time down the hall.

" Miss Vandom, you're late. Again. " Mr. O'Brien scolded Will when she walked into the room. " This is your third warning already, one more and I will have to put a call in to your mother. "

" Whatever, " Will mumbled, making her way to the back of the room. " like she'll care anyway. " Will sat down in an empty seat at the back of the room, threw her hood up and placed her chin on her arms, staring up at the blackboard. Mr. O'Brien was writing something about paragraph hooks when she walked in the door.

" Ms. Hale, I see you are aslo late once again. I am required by school policy to warn you that one more late will result in a call to your parents. Take your seat please. " Most unusually, Cornelia did so silently. She just walked to her seat with a smile on her face.

' Just great. ' Will thought, frustrated. ' Why'd I have to get al the same classes as her? First she catches me staring at her in the hall, then she just has to be here. I'm gonna die. ' Will looked around one last time and saw Cornelia staring in her direction, smirking. Before the blood could make it's way to Will's face, she buried her face in her arms for the rest of the class. 

Will sat in solitude eating her lunch on a bench in one of the many hallways of the Sheffield Institute. The cafeteria was overcrowded and she didn't much feel like trying to find a seat amongst the legions of hyperactive children and chatterbox teenagers. At the sound of running footsteps Will turned her head in the direction of the cafeteria to see none other than Hay Lin running towards her.

' Speaking of chatterboxes. ' Will groaned slightly. " Slow down, Hay Lin, you're gonna hurt yourself. " She grabbed the younger girl's wrists as Hay Lin overshot her.

" Ooowww! " Hay Lin complained as her body snapped backwards.

" My point exactly. You'll hurt yourslef if you run around the halls like that. " Will smirked.

" You're the one who grabbed my arm though! It's your fault. " Hay Lin whined some more.

" Well, if you weren't running like that, I wouldn't have had to grab your wrist. " Will smiled. As annoying as Hay Lin could get, she always managed to cheer Will up. " So, why were you running like that anyway? "

" I was looking for you, I looked at your locker and I looked al over the cafeteria. I only found you 'cause some wierd guy with glasses said he saw you over here. " Hay Lin explained. " I asked about ten people before I talked to him. Some of them said they didn't know what I was talking about; a few of them called me a dumbass. "

" Well, that's what you get for talking to random people you don't know. Why were you looking for me anyway? "

" I was lonely. I sat down with a few people and tried to talk to them but they all just looked at me wierd and ignored me. " Hay Lin started to look downtrodden. " Will's always telling me to get out and meet people and make friends but how can I do that if nobody wants to talk to me? " Hay Lin laid her head down on Will's shoulder.

" Yeah well, people are jackasses. Will isn't the sharpest tool in the shed either, so you shouldn't put too much stock in what he says. Rich is smarter. " Will ruffled Hay Lin's hair and smiled at her.

" So, " Will began. " what'd you bring for lunch? "

" A peanut butter and pickle sandwich! " Hay Lin exclaimed happily.

" Are you serious? Peanut butter and pickle? "

" Yeah, " Hay Lin pulled the sandwich out of her lunchbag and opened it up for Will to see " it's really good, you want a bite? "

" No thanks, " Will refused. " I think I'll stick to my bagel. " 


	5. Chapter 5

Well, this Chapter certainly took a long time to surface from the dark recesses of my lazy-arsed mind. I do deeply apologize for the wait and there is no explanation other than the fact that I simply stopped caring for a time. I blame summer for that. However, school is back now and so my resolve to do something other than homework has also returned, you guys are now priority #1.

* * *

Chapter 5: Audience with the Queen 

Cornelia was nervous. She never got nervous; it made her feel sick. 'Damnit Cornelia, get it together! 'The blonde scolded herself. Cornelia lay on her bed, mentally finalizing her plans for the next day. Going over it again and again, Cornelia couldn't shake the disgusting feeling from her body. She'd broken curfew more times than she could count, she'd skipped just as many classes, hell, she'd competed in the national skating championships. There was no reason for her to be nervous over something like this.

'Stupid Irma, even suggesting something this stupid. How the hell could she think of that? 'Though Cornelia knew that it was her fault for actually agreeing to go along with it, she would never admit to anyone. Irma would never let her live it down.

Cornelia could already hear the taunts of her best friend if she refused to go through with the plan tomorrow. ' Aaaw, is the big bad Corny to afraid to do one itty witty bitty wittle thing? Hahaha! 'Cornelia would die before she gave Irma the satisfaction of giving Cornelia a challenge she couldn't win.

'I'm going to go through with this, I'm not going t let her beat me. But if anybody ever finds out about this then I'm going to strangle that pig-nosed little bitch. '

* * *

(Flashback to school that day) 

"Aaaaargh, I hate history!" Irma moaned beside Cornelia as they exited their second period history class.

"Yeah, who really needs to know about what happened a hundred years before they were born?" Cornelia agreed.

"Well," interrupted Taranee, who had just come down the hall from her photography class. "Some people find history really useful. My parents use historical references all the time when they're working in court."

"News flash Taranee, neither Irma nor me are your parents. If I was, you'd definitely have a little more fashion sense." Cornelia spat, clearly in a bad mood. "And if Irma was, you'd be... well, I'd rather not say what you'd be if Irma was your parent

"Whoa, you're certainly unhappy today Corny." Irma said in her biggest fake cheerful voice ever. "What bit you in the ass?"

Cornelia merely glared at her. "I think she's angry." Irma whispered to Taranee. Loudly enough for Cornelia to clearly hear it.

"Maybe she just needs a coffee." Taranee whispered back, just as subtle as Irma had been.

"Oh, god will the two of you just shut up already!" Cornelia shouted. "Neither of you have stayed quiet for more than three seconds at a time; and I'm sick of it."

"Oh, come on Cornelia, the loud whispers always cheer you up. What's wrong?" Taranee asked, sitting herself down on the windowsill and preparing for one of Cornelia's ten minute rants about how life was unfair because she had to do something simple like load the dishwasher.

"There's a lot of stuff wrong. Mostly, it's 'cause my mom said she's going to stop giving me an allowance because she saw the top I bought with the last one." Cornelia sat down beside Taranee and draped a slender arm around her shoulders.

"Oooh, was it that navy blue tube top?" Irma asked, excitedly. "Yep." Cornelia answered.

"So, my mother tells me that if I want money to blown on stuff like that then I have to get a job." Cornelia said with disdain. "Then I come here and figure out we've got a Bio test tomorrow, and stupid Mr. Moron in there," She pointed her thumb towards her history class. "Springs a pop quiz on us today, which I totally bombed."

"Wait, you spent your entire allowance on one shirt?" Taranee said in disbelief. "You couldn't have bought something a little less expensive?"

"Earth to Taranee, have you seen the top?" Irma started on Taranee as if she had committed murder or something. "It's got to be like the cutest top ever. I would've bought it to if I had the money, but I spent all my money on that outfit I bought last week." Just then the bell rang, making them officially late for third period.

"Oh man, thanks Corny, all your complaining just made us all late for class." Irma said loudly as she gathered all her stuff in a rush and ran off to her math class.

"Irma, wait for me!" Cornelia called after her running friend. Running of to the same math class herself.

"So, Lair and Hale late, but other than that, everything seems to be in order." Mrs. Rudolph said, going over her attendance. "Wait, where's Vandom? Will Vandom?"

When nobody spoke up, Mrs. Rudolph marked Will absent and continued with her class

Cornelia had taken notice of Will's absence earlier. It was hard not to when she had every class with the girl. She wasn't sure why she was so strangely fascinated with Will; usually Cornelia wouldn't have even noticed that she was missing. It had happened with Irma only a few days ago, yet she couldn't get one girl who she had never even talked to out of her head.

Cornelia vaguely recognized Mrs. Rudolph asking if anyone had any questions about the homework from the night before. As she hadn't even looked at the homework, she couldn't really say that she had any questions. So she merely put her books and calculator on her desk, buried her face in her arms, and then went to sleep.

"Christ that was boring." Irma exclaimed when she was out of the classroom and earshot of Mrs. Rudolph.

"You know Irma; you really shouldn't be saying that anywhere near Mrs. Rudolph." Taranee warned from behind Irma, startling her. "I heard this one guy last year called her class boring and she forced him to do her house chores for a month."

"Irma Lair fears no old hag of a math teacher. That was probably the most boring class I have ever been to in my entire life. After that, I need some fun." Irma said proudly. "Corny, you got any ideas?" No answer. "Corny, are you even paying attention to me."

Cornelia was of course not paying attention to Irma. She was too busy stalking someone with her eyes. Will had only just found her way to school and Cornelia's attention was almost entirely focused on her.

She watched as Will struggled with her locker, only to be tackled from behind by a smaller Asian girl as son as she got it open. Cornelia watched the interaction between Will and her friend with amusement. She still wasn't sure why this was so interesting to her, but the small redheaded girl always seemed to draw Cornelia's attention.

"Earth to Blondie!" Irma half shouted in Cornelia's ear, taking her attention away from Will and her friend.

"What is it Irma?" Cornelia asked irritably.

"Gees, I was just trying to talk to you, no reason to bite my head off." Irma said, backing away in mock fear. "What the hell were you staring at anyway?"

"Nothing, what does it matter anyway?" Cornelia said, sounding defensive.

A quick peek in the direction that Cornelia had been looking answered Irma's question. Cornelia had been staring at that Will chick again. "Hey, I've got an idea of what we can do for fun." Putting on her best evil smile, she turned to face Cornelia.

"No." Cornelia said flatly. "I know that look, and I'm not doing it."

"Oh come on Cornelia, it'll be fun." Irma pleaded.

"No, it'll be humiliating. I'm not going to do it."

"You're the only one that can do it. She's obviously got the hots for you. Just string her along for while, make her think you like her, then brutally humiliate her in front of everyone."

"Or, I could always tell everyone that the great Cornelia is too chicken to do one little dare." Irma chuckled as Cornelia's face began to show fear. "Then there's always James, I could schedule you a date with him if you'd like."

"Okay, I'll do it, just don't ever joke about that again." Cornelia agreed, frightened at the very prospect of James thinking they had a date.

"Excellent, now Cornelia," Irma looked to her left to find Cornelia not there. "Corny?" She found Cornelia strutting across the relatively empty hallway towards Will, who appeared to be staring at Cornelia and blushing.' This is going to be easier than I thought.' Irma thought, chuckling quietly to herself.

(End Flashback)

* * *

Cornelia had never dreaded school more. Usually as her dad drove her to the accursed institution her stomach was pained with the usual nausea that came with thinking about being cooped up and forced to learn all day when she could be checking out the latest stock at the mall or catching Vance Michael Justin's latest flick at the theatre. 

Today though, her fear at what she had agreed to do yesterday had consumed her entire being. Her entire image could be ruined. She could become a laughing stock. She had even considered letting Irma tell James they had a date just so she wouldn't have to do this.

"Okay honey, here's your stop." Cornelia's dad said from beside her. "Have fun today honey, bye-bye!" He called out the window after Cornelia had exited the car.

"Yeah," Cornelia said out loud to herself as she trudged towards the embassy of her own personal Hell. "I'll have loads of fun today."

"Wow Corny, you're a wreck." said an extremely happy Irma from behind Cornelia in the hallway after third period. "I certainly hope you didn't forget out little gaaaa-aame." Irma stressed the last word just so Cornelia could know exactly how happy this made her.

"How could I forget it, Irma? I missed out on most of my sleep hours because of it." Cornelia growled back.

"Touchy, touchy, I was just makin' sure, no reason to bite my head off."

"Irma, if I did anything to your head right now, it would be withal ten pound steel club."

"Cornelia, you can threaten Irma all you want later. Can we just get some lunch now?" Taranee groaned from beside the dagger glaring pair.

"No time for lunch right now girls, our target should be entering her usual washrooms for her break in five, four, three, two, one... there she goes now! After her Corny!" Irma shouted enthusiastically.

"What are you, her stalker? Maybe you'd be better for this than me if you know so much about her." Cornelia protested.

"Hey," Irma grinned Cheshire cat style. "Someone has to keep track of things for you. And don't worry about the washrooms; I haven't seen a student enter those for three years except for her." She continued grinning as she shoved Cornelia to the washrooms where Will was currently located.

"Geez real reassuring, Irma." Cornelia spat before she pushed open the washroom door and entered the washroom.

* * *

Will, I'm beginning to get concerned about the times you decide to come home every day." Will's mother ranted to her daughter's inattentive ears. 

"Yes, Mother." Will answered, yawning.

"I'm not joking Will, you didn't get home until two o'clock this morning. I'm not very happy with that."

"Rich rented a lot of movies Mother, had to watch 'em all." Will's tongue continued to drone while her brain was busy napping. Hay Lin and caffeine did not mix, Will had decided; after the mind numbing headache caused by the jittery Asian girl had lost her most of her usual four hours of sleep.

"Will, if you don't come home at a decent hour, your-"

"Your grades will suffer, you'll flunk out of school and lose your chance at a good life., and end up selling pencils on a street corner." Will finished sarcastically, even imitating her mother's voice. "I know Mother, you've given me that speech a total of seventeen times since you and Dad got divorced.

"Why is it that you refer to him as 'Dad' when you haven't seen him in four years? Yet you still refer to me as 'Mother.'?" Susan probed.

"Oh, I don't know, Mother. Let's think for a second. Could it possibly be the fact that I loathe you to the very core of your existence?" Will mocked whilst gathering her school things from around the room and closed the door behind her quickly, ensuring her the last word.

'Stupid mother and her stupid questions. As if she doesn't already know why.' Will's brain worked furiously on the ride down the elevator, talking essentially to itself. 'She drags me around for four years, no attention to my feelings; completely cuts me off from everything and she expects me to call her Mom. Ridiculous.'

'She's really not like that. If you gave her a chance, you'll see that she just wants the best for all of us.' Will assumed that to be her conscience speaking. A pesky little child of a voice that hadn't bothered her sarcastic and rude brain for quite some time now. Thankfully though, the brain had so far managed to keep control over the tongue and other extremities.

'Yeah, that's why she's sleeping with a different guy every week and tries to force me to do stupid things the she knows I hate.' Argued the brain. 'Oh look, here's my stop, Hay Lin's going to be waiting for me so you can go climb back into your little crate now. Bye-bye."

The inner voice was silent, and so the brain retained control. With her inner battles resolved, Will exited her building and found not Hay Lin, but Will.

"Hey Will, where's Hay Lin today?" Will asked the older boy. "She's usually the one waiting for me."

"Well, suffice it to say that Hay Lin and coffee do not mix." Will explained as he and his redheaded companion began to walk. "Poor little thing had her first caffeine crash this morning. Rich and I deemed her unfit for governmentally mandated education."

"Hey, how come you guys never did that with me the time you got me drunk?" Will complained. "I'm sure Hay Lin's caffeine episode can't be that bad.'

"Everyone thinks they had it worst when they had their first hangover. Shoulda been there when Rich and I got wasted together for the first time." Will started. "Rich was the crabbiest son of a bitch I have ever seen that morning. Rich and I have both formally agreed that he shall never drink vodka again. "

"So if not governmentally mandated education, what exactly IS poor little Hay Lin fit to learn? Dealing with Hangovers?" Will asked sarcastically. There was no way Hay Lin would sit and listen to lectures from the two of them.

"Actually, yes." Will answered. "I never actually expected she'd sit down for long enough either, even as she is now, but Rich was beginning the first lesson when I left and Hay Lin was actually paying attention."

"So, what you're saying, is that Hay Lin, the queen of all things related to hyperactivity, is sitting down and Letting RICH, of all people, lecture her on hangovers?" Will asked, cocking her friend a crimson eyebrow.

"That's what I'm saying. Honest to God." Will swore, raising his hands above his head.

"Remind me to get drunk off my ass next time I stay with you guys." Will noted. "If I get drunk enough, you'll keep me away from school."

Will just shook his head. "If you try that now, I'll make you go to school anyway." He looked down at Will. "It's not usually a good idea to tell your plans to your enemies."

"You're just playing favourites. You like her better than me don't you?" Will accused, her hand straying towards her bag.

"Afraid so, Will. Hay Lin is just more fun than you. Oooow!" Will shouted after Will smacked him in the arm with her copy of 'Les Miserables'; the book she was reading for her English class.

"Speaking of school," Will said in his usual happy tone as they rounded the corner to the Institute.. "Here you are. Have some big fun today, Little Red."

A history textbook narrowly missing his left ear was enough indication to Will that he needed to run. Now, before Will busted out the heavier subjects. He didn't really fancy incurring the wrath the infamous calculus textbook.

Will bent down to pick up her history book. Will really was lucky she couldn't aim for shit. His face would be quite disfigured by now if she could. Growling openly, she earned a few strange stares from the other inmates as she was led, by invisible guards, up the pathway to her daily prison.

* * *

Will had never realized exactly how important it had become to her that Hay Lin be at school with her. Annoying as they were, the random hugs and other such actions really did make Will's day more exciting than the usual boring draught of nothingness that she was subjected to in all of her classes. 

Instead of listening to her teachers drone on and on and on about things she found inconsequential and insignificant, Will chose instead to taker her time doodling. She wasn't nearly as good as Hay Lin, but it certainly did help to pass the time. Her personal favourite of the day was her third period masterpiece of Mr. Collins being hung and his corpse fed to a pit of starved alligators.

That was of course, until Collins confiscated the picture and all her other depictions of numerous teachers being brutally murdered in stick form.

"I'm not impressed, Will." Collins admitted to Will while he kept her back after class.

"That much is obvious." Will stated boldly, glaring daggers at the history teacher.

"This isn't a joke, Will. I've been easy on you so far, because I know you're having troubles at home but this I'm going to have to report to your mother." Mr. Collins said, his face locked in a grim expression.

"First of all, you have no idea what's going on in my home." Will spat venomously, her glare intensified. "Second of all, I don't give a shit what you tell that woman about me. Thirdly, are we done here? Because unlike that anorexic fuck of a mother of mine you happen to be dating, I actually want to eat lunch now."

"I'll take your silence as a yes then." Will smirked, gathering up her things and leaving with one last look at the flabbergasted old man.

The halls were crowded, Will decided as she considered where she should eat. She had been expecting it, of course; it just annoyed her. The school had too many students for it's own good. It was almost impossible to get anywhere between classes without getting squashed in traffic.

Normally, Will would simply wait for the inevitable ambush and continue on to lunch with Hay Lin wherever they chose to sit down. Now though, she was quite alone. For a brief moment she considered eating in the cafeteria with all the other students, and quickly squashed the idea. Will had no desire to put her eardrums through the torture that was the cafeteria of Sheffield Institute.

She also considered eating in the hall, that idea was also put quickly to rest. Simply too many people wandering the halls and being annoying. Will needed somewhere quiet, somewhere she knew most people wouldn't go during lunch.

In the end, Will sought the companionship of the largely abandoned east wing washrooms. These had been left alone for some reason when the school had been renovated some number of years ago. As such, most people never used them, opting instead for the more modern washrooms in the rest of the school.

Will liked these washrooms. They were quiet, and calm. Free from the nonsensical rush of people from class to class Will often came in here just to be alone whenever she cut classes, it just made her feel calm.

Just as Will was set to enjoy her lunch in solitude, the door to the washroom opened. Who dared to intrude upon her sanctuary? Setting her face to angry glare, Will stood up and turned her head to find Cornelia Hale, the last person she expected to see.

"Hi." Will said awkwardly, not really knowing what to say. "What's up?"

Cornelia on the other hand sounded completely natural. "Nothing special really, just the normal stuff; as normal as things get around here anyway." Said the blonde, turning towards a mirror to adjust her make up. "What about you?" Cornelia asked, still not looking at Will. " Anything out of the ordinary going on with you?"

"Do you mean other than the fact that my mother happens to be an anorexic whore?" Will said, her voice positively dripping with disgust at the thought of her mothers 'Extra-curricular' activities. (As Will had so named her mothers personal antics.)

"Outside of that, the comings and goings of my life are quite boring really. Nothing too exciting."

"Well then," Cornelia smirked, turning around from the mirror and facing Will. "Today's you're lucky day. It just so happens I have an idea that'll make the day more exciting for the both of us."

"What exactly are you-" Will was forced, however, to stop mid sentence due to the fact that Cornelia's lips were currently mashing against her own.

Will was too shocked to even respond. She had predicted that nothing note worthy would happen to her all year. Yet here she was, locking lips with the girl of her more recent dreams.

Just as Will's brain had begun o adjust, though, Cornelia pulled back from the kiss, looking mildly embarrassed. "Sorry, just something that'd been bugging me for a while now."

"Oh really?" Will asked devilishly. "Then let me show you something that's been bugging ME for a while." Will lunged forward, capturing Cornelia's lips in an explosion of primal passion. Will's lips, which had remained in disuse for so long, were now awakened; and were raging hungrily against Cornelia's. Her tongue lashing against the other's lips, begging for entrance.

Will was kissing Cornelia so fiercely that she had backed the other girl into a wall. Her hands ran along Cornelia's body at their own discretion, finally coming to rest on her ass. When her ass was squeezed, Cornelia instantly arched her body into Will and opened her mouth, moaning lightly and allowing Will's tongue to raid her mouth of it's secrets.

Surfacing from Cornelia's mouth for air, Will soon went to work on her neck, sucking and biting, making the girl gasp and moan in delight. In addition to that, her hands caressing Cornelia's tight ass and their breasts crashing against one another were making Cornelia's breaths come short and quick.

"Mmmmmmm!" Cornelia moaned, barely remembering she had to stay quiet, lest they be found out. Will knew she was close to her limit, and she had every intention of getting her there. One of her hands left Cornelia's ass and began to make its way under her skirt.

When her hand made the slightest contact with Cornelia's inner thigh, though, Will felt the other girl jerk away, breaking all contact.

She looked up at Cornelia. The girl's face was sweaty and extremely flushed. Her golden locks were strewn about her face messily, matted and in some areas sticking to her face. Will found the overall look to be quite arousing.

"Aaaw, why'd you stop? I was only just getting started." Will's smile looked sweet, but her eyes were still pulsing, full of primal desire.

Cornelia, who was still panting, composed herself before speaking. "Think of this as a 'first date'. We can't be rushing in so fast on just a first date now can we?"

"No, I suppose we can't." Will agreed, pouting. "So does this mean we're going out or something?"

"Something like that." Cornelia said. "First, though, we've got to lay down some ground rules. There's only one in this case."

"This cannot be a public affair." Cornelia stated seriously. "Our 'dates' will be conducted in secret and the time and place will be dictated by me. Is that acceptable?" Cornelia asked, staring straight at the shorter red head.

"Whatever you say. " Will said with a smirk on her face as she walked towards the exit. Stopping for a second as she reached Cornelia, Will grabbed her ass once again and squeezed, savouring the gasp it elicited from the blonde bombshell. "Have a nice day, Cornelia." Were her last words before exiting the washroom.

* * *

"I'm telling you guys, it was awesome!" Exclaimed Will, who was explaining the story to Will and Rich in their room back at H.O.H.S. "I just went into the washroom during lunch and this completely fucking hot blonde girl walks in and starts making out with me." 

"Wow, sounds like you got lucky today." Rich chuckled, popping a sunflower seed into his mouth.

"Not quite, I was just about to really get started when she jumps away and feeds me some line about how that was like a first date and we can't rush in so fast." Will complained. "She says she'll tell me when we'll have anther one of our 'dates'."

"Well with you involved in them, Will" Will said from his bed across the room from Will. These 'dates' of hers are going to be nothing but a series of rather erotic encounters."

"That is until the chick gives in and lets Will fuck her senseless." Rich laughed heartily. "It's only a matter of time."

"I sure as hell don't mind." Will said, stealing a handful of Rich's seeds and popping a few into her mouth. "By the way Rich, how'd it go with Hay Lin this morning?"

"It went rather well actually." Rich said in slight awe of himself. "I had her up and running in abut two hours. She's downstairs on nursery duty right now"

"Not anymore I'm not." Hay Lin said with a smile, walking through the door. "That Caitlyn girl from upstairs came and took over for me. Will!"

Hay Lin tackled Will in a tight hug the moment she saw that she was there. "How was your day? Did you miss me?"

"Yes Hay Lin, I definitely missed you. Things were VERY different without you around." Will smiled, happy to have some of the balance in her life back.

"I promise I'll never get drunk on a school night again." Hay Lin paused, considering her statement. "Or at last, if I do, I'll make sure that you get just as smashed as I do so we'll both stay home."

"That's a solid plan, Hay Lin." Will said, released from Hay Lin's grip. "Sadly though, my mother is leaving for work soon so I've got to go and watch the place all day."

"What? But we haven't seen you all day, and now we won't get to hang out at all?" Hay Lin asked her eyes wide with sadness.

"Afraid so, but tomorrow's Saturday so I'll be here all day." Will explained, downing a few more sunflower seeds

"Well then get out of here!" Rich yelled from his bed, throwing sunflower seeds at Will. If you've got a big important apartment to watch then we don't need you here! Get out!"

"Yeah, I'm going already you ugly bastard! Shut the fuck up!" Will shouted, closing the door behind her, laughing.

Will made her way down the stairs into the lobby of the building. She waved goodbye to Rose before setting off for home.

* * *

Finally finished with that chap! Wooh that one took me a LONG time to finish. I would like to take this chance to once again apologize to anyone who's reading this for taking so long to put this up. I do hope at least a few people haven't completely given up on me. R&R please! 


	6. Chapter 6

Wow, I'm a liar. I said I would make this thing my # 1 priority and I tried. I also failed miserably. Please forgive me.

* * *

Boredom

Cornelia forced the girl into a corner of the bathroom with glint of lust in her eyes. She forced her lips upon those of the red head in front of her. Her tongue was quickly accepted into the other girls' mouth, she tasted like Cinnamon, Cornelia decided. She was so lost in the taste of the other girls' mouth that she gasped in surprise when she felt the other tongue enter her own mouth. Not that she objected of course.

The red head took advantage of Cornelia's surprise and turned the tables. Before Cornelia knew what was going on, she was the one in the corner, with the red head liberally exploring her body with her hands.

So many sensations assaulted Cornelia at once and the obviously experienced hands of the other girl roamed free over her body. She moaned into their kiss as the girl rolled her breasts in her hands, thumbs caressing her nipples through her shirt and bra.

Cornelia could clearly hear a loud buzzing noise in the room; it was only getting louder as her 'friend' worked her way lower on Cornelia's body. The girl cupped Cornelia's ass and grinned when Cornelia had to break away from the kiss for air and to moan some more.

Just as the girls' hands reached down below her skirt and fingered her panties, the buzzing became too unbearable and the world went black.

* * *

Cornelia awoke, groaning in displeasure. Though she would never admit it to anyone, she had been rather enjoying that dream. In reality, she did regret her decision to put a stop to the events in the bathroom. She knew, though, that she had to do so to remain in the dominant position... Just that small taste of how exactly well Will knew how to please a girl let her know that if she let her emotions rule, the plan would die before she could blink. 

Also causing her displeasure was the fact that the same buzzing noise that had permeated her dream was also there in her room. Looking to her left, Cornelia found the culprit immediately. 'Alarm clock.' The blonde though groggily. 'Why the hell is that thing ringing? It's Saturday for God's sake. I didn't set the thing... Lillian!' Realization dawned on the girl before she slammed her fist down on her clock, thus stopping the noise from hell.

"She's so dead!" Cornelia growled to nobody in particular. She sprang out of bed and made for the door when she felt something uncomfortable. Her inner thighs were somewhat wet and sticky. She blushed intensely when she realized that the sensations in her dream had obviously found their way out of her subconscious and assault her body in reality.

'I should probably change first.' She thought, walking to her large closet to find suitable clothes for a Saturday.

* * *

'Honestly, waking me up at nine in the morning on a Saturday, I'm going to kill that little snot.' Cornelia stomped down the hallway leading to the living room where Lillian always was at this time of morning. Watching her stupid cartoons and playing with her stupid cat. 

"Cornelia!" Her mother called from the kitchen. "You're up early. Special occasion?"

"Not really, Mom." Cornelia answered vaguely, failing to locate her sister in any of the usual places. "Hey Mom, have you seen Lillian?"

"Why yes I have, dear." Her mother answered cheerily. "Your father took her off to day-care this morning as we both have to work today and we know how you hate to baby-sit. Why are you looking for her anyway? Usually you want nothing to do with your sister."

"Well, I need to punish her for setting my alarm clock this morning." Cornelia said, doing her best to mask her malice. "It's Saturday, I don't need to be up this early."

"Oh sweetheart, that was me who set your clock." Mrs. Hale laughed heartily. "I' m leaving now you see, and we needed you to be awake to tell you what we need you to do today."

Cornelia groaned again. She never used to have to do that so much but recently, her life seemed to want to screw her over. Like now for instance. She had never been entrusted with any housework before but today the entire thing was in her hands.

"What do I have to do?" Cornelia asked fearfully. She shut her eyes and held out her hand, expecting some sort of written list of chores that would surely take days to complete.

"Nothing really, just make sure Napoleon's food and water are full, and we need you to go pick up Lillian at day-care at three thirty. Here's the address." She handed Cornelia a blank business card with the day-care address written on it. "Do you think you can handle that, Cornelia?"

Cornelia breathed a sigh of relief, jumping for joy inside. She didn't have to do any actual work. She just had to fill up the stupid cat's food and water and drive to some day-care place to pick up her rotten little sister. 'Easy Street!' She shouted in her head.

"Yeah, I think I can do that." Cornelia replied, keeping her outer appearance calm.

"Thank you for being so mature about this, Cornelia." Mrs. Hale smiled at her eldest daughter. "Neither your father or I will be home until tomorrow morning so I've left some money on the living room table so that you can order out."

"Okay, thanks mom bye! Have a good time a work!" Cornelia told her other half sarcastically as she ushered her out the door of the penthouse apartment.

"Well, now that that's over, "Cornelia said out loud to herself. "What the hell am I gonna do at nine o'clock in the morning?"

* * *

As Cornelia had suspected, neither Neither Irma nor Taranee was awake at this ungodly hour. They didn't have to get up to be told about the chores they had to do today. Her suspicions confirmed, Cornelia put down the phone and flopped herself onto her favourite leather sofa. 

There was never anything good on television in the mornings so that was out. Irma and Taranee weren't awake so that was out. Her mother had once said that she liked to cook to help with her boredom. Cornelia had never cooked or baked anything in her life and she had no plans to start, so that was also out. As her eyes desperately searched the room for something to do, Napoleon hopped onto her lap.

"Napoleon!" Cornelia said excitedly for her boredom was now over. "You'll play with me, right?" It seemed, however, that even Napoleon was not a morning person. Or rather, not a morning cat. As all he wanted to do was sit on the nearest available lap and get some love. When he received none, however, he up and left.

'I wish we had a dog.' Cornelia thought gloomily. With no real other choice before her, Cornelia turned on her 52 inch television and began mindlessly flipping through her many thousands of channels.

* * *

Noon came and went. Slowly, mind you. For as Cornelia had expected, there was nothing interesting on T.V. She had found a movie that she thought she liked. However, even Vance Michael Justin movies seemed more boring than usual. She kept unconsciously replacing Vance with a short, sexy, and forceful redhead. This understandably made the movie rather strange. 

"Fuck!" Cornelia shouted aloud as she caught herself imagining Will in Vance's place for the umpteenth time. "I have got to get that girl out of my head." She scolded herself. If she wasn't careful, the next time she saw the girl she was going to jump all over her, public or not. The usual method Cornelia used for these problems was Vance therapy. It had already failed. If he world's hunkiest actor couldn't Take Cornelia's mind off Will, what could?

A loud ring echoed throughout the house. Much akin to the ringing of church bells but infinitely quieter. 'Doorbell!' Cornelia thought desperately. 'I'm saved! SAVED!'

'Okay, maybe saved wasn't exactly the right choice of words.' Cornelia thought as she opened the door and learned just who had come to visit her on such a wonderfully boring Saturday afternoon.

"Afternoon, Corny!" Exclaimed Irma excitedly from the other side of the doorframe. "I figured I'd come along and save you from your boredom today. Generous, ain't I?" The brunette stretched her arms above her head luxuriously as she strutted into the apartment.

It wasn't hard, judging from Irma's behaviour, for Cornelia to decipher the girl's true intentions. "Generous my ass, you just want details." The blonde one accused. Pointing a long, manicured finger at the brunette.

Irma gasped in mock hurt. "I can't believe you would even suggest such a thing!" She continued on dramatically. "I can't go out of my way to come and visit my best friend in the whole world? Not even when I know she's bored to tears."

"Irma," Cornelia began exasperatedly. "You and I both know that you never go out of your way for anything unless you want something from someone. So what is it?"

"Oh you know, a little of this, a little of that." Irma replied nonchalantly, snagging an apple out of the fruit basket. "I always get stuff when I come over here. You've got free satellite T.V. My dad would never let get away with that."

"Yeah, a hell of a lot of good T.V.'s been doing me this morning." Cornelia drawled. "Too many channels to count and nothin' to watch. Maybe we should just go back to cable."

It was too late when Cornelia saw Irma throw her apple out of the corner of her eye. She hadn't seen the fruit coming so all she got when she turned to face Irma was an apple square in the forehead. On impact, some of the apple became what can only be called mush, sliding down Cornelia's beautiful face. "What the hell was that for!!?" Cornelia screamed, grabbing a hand towel and cleaning off her face.

"You just said there was nothing good on T.V." Irma said to Cornelia as if they were naughty children and Cornelia had broken a rule. "Have you looked at the T.V.? V.M.J.'s on! How dare you say that there's nothing to watch?!"

"So, you just hit me in the face with an apple because I said that I didn't want to watch some Vance Michael Justin movie?" Cornelia said disbelievingly. "What the fuck."

"This isn't just some Vance movie." Irma insisted. "This is 'Tears I Cry'. It's his best movie ever!" The insane brunette just couldn't get it through her head that Cornelia didn't want to watch the greatest movie on the planet.

Cornelia groaned. She really didn't want to be dealing with Irma right now. Usually the girl was a riot to hang out with. Non stop laughs with Irma around. 'Not today though.' Cornelia thought. 'Today she just wants to annoy me.'

"Irma, I've seen that movie a thousand times. Do you really expect me to care? I've got... other problems to deal with today."

Oh you do, do you?" Cornelia didn't like the evil little glint in Irma's eyes as she said that. It was the same one that she wore when she was talking Cornelia into going in that bathroom. "And just what, exactly, would those things be?"

"I won't tell you what they are, but I will tell you what they aren't. Your Business." Cornelia spat, grabbing the remote from Irma and turning off the television.

"Those 'other problems' wouldn't have anything to do with our little deal would they?" Irma questioned eagerly. "'Cause you know, if they did, I think it is my business."

"Like I said shorty, It's none of your business." Cornelia said, staring down her nose with narrowed eyes at her friend.

"Hey!" Irma shouted, sniffling a few times in mock sadness. She hated being called short. "That wasn't very nice of you."

"You threw an apple at my face and you want to tell me that I'm being mean?" Cornelia stated. "That's the most moronic thing I think you've ever done."

"Well, there was that one time that I-"

"I don't wanna hear it!?" Cornelia interrupted, ears plugged and eyes closed." I do not want to hear it. Because I'm fairly sure it's something disgusting."

"Wow, you're a good guesser, Corny." Irma chimed in happily, moving towards the door. "Anyway, I should probably be going, don't want to be late for my hot date." Irma smirked at Cornelio, knowing that her friend could not hear her and she quickly stepped out and shut the door behind her.

"Well," Cornelia said out loud. Continuing the unfamiliar habit of talking to herself. "Now that that's over I can get back to the normal, Irma free world." Sighing as she flopped onto her luxurious leather sofa and resumed her channel flipping. "I wonder what time it is." Cornelia said tiredly, sitting up and turning around so she could see the clock. It read 3:27. "Shit! I'm gonna be late!"

Throwing herself off of the couch. Cornelia rushed around the entry area of her penthouse apartment; gathering her shoes and jacket and whatnot. Once everything was together, she rushed out the door and mashed the button for the elevator. "One disadvantage of living in a penthouse..." Cornelia began. She never finished, however, because the elevator came up just in time.

* * *

"Doesn't look like much of a day-care." Cornelia snorted as she pulled up outside the building. "This IS the address on the card though, so I guess it is one." As she stepped out of her car and walked across the street, Cornelia prepared herself mentally. She had never liked children and there was going to be a swarm of them. 

She paused at the door for a moment, finishing her preparation and then she pushed. When she got inside, Cornelia was surprised. She had expected it t be nothing but a bunch of screaming kids running around and playing stupid games. Granted, there was some of that, but she also large amounts of older kids, people her age hanging around.

'Wow, maybe this place isn't so bad after all.' Cornelia thought, careful not to say it out loud in public. 'I think I even recognize a few of these people from school.'

"Hey," Came a voice from Cornelia's left. She turned to see a tall black haired girl that had to be around twenty from the look of her. "I've never seen you around her before."

"You wouldn't have." Cornelia replied, not really paying attention, but looking around for Lillian. "I've never been here before." She got the impression that the woman was fairly friendly, but she was getting a weird vibe that she couldn't place.

"Really? That's a shame." The stranger shook her head. "It gets pretty boring around here, and you look like you know how to liven things up. My name's Natasha, by the way. And you"  
"Oh, my name's Cornelia." Cornelia answered back simply, somewhat shy.

"That's a nice name." Natasha complimented. "Don't get too many Cornelia's around here. That's for sure."

"Thanks, I guess." Cornelia replied. Still her mouth brain was strangely empty. She couldn't think of very much to say to this woman.

"So, Cornelia, how's about I take you on a guided tour of the place. Show you where it's really at." Natasha said with a strange glint in her eye. The vibe was back, slightly stronger this time, but Cornelia still couldn't put a word to it.

"I'm kind of looking for my-" Cornelia stared before she was cut off.

"Wont' take too long." Natasha insisted. "Ten minutes... tops. That way if you ever come back you know right where to come for the best action." Her gaze was so confusing. The vibe coming from this girl told Cornelia that she should probably be avoided. Yet one listen to her voice and loom into her face, and the vibe was gone.

"Yeah, I guess you showin' me around wouldn't be that bad." Cornelia agreed. There was a strange glint in Natasha's eyes as she got up from her position leaning against a wall and began to lead Cornelia to the stairway leading up.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no." Came a vaguely familiar voice approaching fast. In from the right came a shorter girl with a mop of crimson hair upon her head and an angry look upon her face. "Come with me." Will said shortly grabbing Natasha by the wrist and dragging her across the room.

Cornelia, too weirded out to think to chase after them, just stood there and watched. From her distance, combine with the other conversations and screaming children in the room, Cornelia couldn't hear a damn thing the two of them were saying. Whatever they were talking about, she had a lot to do with it as they continually pointed at her, or at least in her direction.

Whatever it was that Will and Natasha had to argue about, it was over fairly quickly, with Will the apparent victor. "Sorry about her, she likes to pick on the newcomers."

"Yeah..." Cornelia absentmindedly said, not really understanding what was going on.

"I didn't expect to see you again so soon after our first little 'date'" Will said nonchalantly. "Did you miss me." She whispered seductively into Cornelia's ear.

Cornelia moaned quietly. She desperately wanted to scream 'Hell Yeah! However, remembering her earlier conversations with herself about staying in control, she made sure she was cool, calm, and collected before answering.

"No, not really." She replied teasingly. "I'm just here to pick up my little sister from the day-care."

"Oooh, so that's it is it?" Will smiled knowingly. "Farthest door down there on your left. is the day-care room. Have fun." The red head about faced and walked back to wherever it was she had come from to save Cornelia from Natasha.

'Well, I suppose today wasn't all bad.' Cornelia thought, smiling to herself as she walked to go get her sister.

* * *

Well, let's look on the bright side of things. At least that update didn't take as long as the last one. I've got no guarantee on when the next chapy will be out. That all depends on when I start working on it. Well, good night all. Or rather, good morning as wher I live it is now 1:30 in the morning. 


	7. Chapter 7

Hey Everyone, look who finally came back with another chapter. [Insert standard excuses and apologies here.

Hope you all enjoy reading!

* * *

Chapter Seven

Smoke wafted through the halls of Sheffield Institute, whispering the secrets it had gleaned into the ears of unsuspecting students. They turned and looked, and laughed and pointed, she thought, at her; but she couldn't make it out through all this ridiculous smoke.

Will wished that the smoke would tell these things to her so that she might turn and point and laugh with the rest. Who would she point at? The only things there were the silhouettes of her fellow students through the smoke, and of course, the smoke itself. She spied a light at the end of the hall and made for it. Well, it had looked like a light from a much longer distance, but as she approached, she wasn't so sure anymore.

Strange, she thought, that this hall seemed so long. She didn't remember Sheffield having a hall this long with no opportunities to turn, or lockers for that matter. Just smoke and silhouettes and secrets.

The smoke seemed to thin out as Will neared her goal. The silhouettes had also become less frequent, and quickly non-existent. To replace them, though, came a voice that didn't come from anywhere. 'A voice that doesn't come from anywhere?' Will chuckled at the absurdity of it all. ▒Then how did it get here? This place doesn't make any sense.'

The voice called out, but the sound it made seemed foreign to her. Perhaps the smoke was clogging her ears. Perhaps if the voice came from somewhere she could understand. But of course, just like with all disembodied voices it had to come from nowhere, or perhaps it was everywhere. Yes that would make much more sense. 'There should be some sort of rulebook for these things.'

"Ow! Watch where you're walking!" Will shouted when she collided with someone. It seemed that in her musings about disembodies voices and where they come from, she had lost track of the object at the end of the hall. Looking up she saw that it wasn't an object, but a person. Cornelia to be exact. Even stranger than the fact that she didn't react to being bumped into was the fact that the smoke seemed to be flowing out from her. Every pore on her body seemed to be pouring smoke out into the hall. Then why had the smoke thinned out the closer she got?

The voice called out again. "...up Will." Up Will? What the hell was that? She wanted to sit and decipher the voice, but Cornelia was leaving and Will wanted to follow her, after all what if it was to one of their 'meetings'? Will didn't want to miss those.

"Will." The voice called again. It sounded a lot like her mother though she couldn't really tell.

'Probably because you're still waking up you moron, why the hell do you think you can't hear right?' Her subconscious yelled at her. Will sighed a sigh of relief. When her subconscious started screaming at her it meant she was asleep. The smoke wasn't real and it wasn't coming out of Cornelia. Good.

"Will. Up." The voice was still there though. It had apparently been trying to tell her to get up.

'Then maybe you should listen to it you stupid bitch! I want to go to sleep!' Subconscious screamed at her again. It worked while she slept and vice versa. It wasn't usually this angry though, she must have been asleep for a while. 'More than your recommended eight hours, I'll tell you that much.'

"Oh fine, shut up." Will moaned aloud. She received a curt 'Thank you' from her subconscious and the voice seemed silent.

"Will, are you up yet?" The voice ran through her ears once again only this time she easily identified it was Hay Lin, not her mother. Also, as she discovered when she opened her eyes, it was coming neither from nowhere, nor everywhere, but mere inches form her face. "Will?" Hay Lin asked again.

"All right, I'll say it. What do you want?" Will asked, sitting up and sending Hay Lin rolling off of the bed.

"Phone for you." Hay Lin grinned, handing Will her own cell phone. Her silky black hair, already in her trademark two long pigtails, swayed rhythmically behind her petite form as she walked off to get breakfast.

"Hello?" Will spoke tentatively into the mouthpiece of the phone, fairly sure what she could expect from the earpiece.

"Where have you been!?!" Barked Susan loudly. "I was worried sick all night! I barely slept! I had half a mind to call the police and have them search for you!"

"Well since you've only got half a mind to start you couldn't have cared that much." Will said dully, yawning.

"What did you say to me?" It almost amazed will how quickly her mother could change her tone. She called, concerned and angry at her daughter for not telling her where she was and now Will was about to be asked what she said again. "What did you just say to me young lady?" Will sighed inwardly.

"I said you couldn't have cared that much." Will snapped. "What with Mr. Collins puttin' it to you all night I'm surprised you were able to squeeze in a thought about me." Susan only gasped, which Will took as a cue to continue. "Then there's the fact that you didn't call me at all to figure out where I was last night. If you were worried, I expect my phone would say something like seventeen missed calls. Goodbye, mother, I'll be home later today."

* * *

"For fucks sake that woman knows how to piss me off!" Will shouted. Her loud matched her loud steps on her way into Rich and Will's small kitchen area. The scents of syrup and cinnamon mixed with bacon and eggs all assaulted Wills nose at once and all thoughts of her mother were pushed to the back of her mind. She might not like Will all that much but he was a damn good cook, and breakfast seemed to be his specialty.

"Your mom again?" Rich asked, handing Will a plate.

"Hm? Oh right, bloody infuriating. Ooh, French toast!"

"You see Will, this is why we can't take you anywhere nice." Rich said, making Will halt her mad dive for the bacon.

"What?" Will asked, clueless, a piece of scrambled egg hanging from her mouth.

Hay Lin giggled and Will patted Will on the head as he came back from the bathroom. "It's okay kid, you'll grow up eventually." He stopped to give Rich a kiss then turned his attention to the eggs on the stove. Rich slapping his ass when he turned around.

"Oh please, will the two of you get a room already!" Hay Lin said, pretending to choke and gag on her bacon.

"Hey small fry," Rich said looking sideways at Hay Lin. "This is our room. We can do whatever we bloody well want and you can't say a thing about it." Mocking her, he snuck up behind Will and cupped him, and made out with him over the hot stove.

"Well Hay Lin, we should probably get out of here." Will suggested. She finished her last bits of French toast and eggs and put her plate and fork in the sink.

"Why?" Hay Lin looked perplexed.

"Let's just say I hope you didn't want any if that syrup for later." Will whispered in her ear before leaving the room and the apartment as quickly as possible. She had just enough time to hear Hay Lin's shout of "Eeeew!" before she shut the door. Sighing, Will started to walk, but she soon stopped and groaned. "Why me?" She whispered to herself.

"Morning, Goody goody. Did you sleep well?" Natasha's voice was a tad too cheery as she waved Will down. Her hips swaying seductively as they always were, she made quick work of the distance between the two of them. Natasha's hair was not its usual black but a nice light brown which Will had to admit looked quite good.

"Morning Natasha." Will greeted her unenthusiastically. "I guess I slept all right, had a fucked up dream but it wasn't bad. How'd you make out."

"Best sleep of my life, or at least this week." Natasha grinned and shook her hair from her blue eyes. "I had Katie, that girl who lives on the second floor over... Damn that girl was good!"

"I remember her, cute kid. Must've gotten better from when I met her last if you're that excited." Will laughed quietly. She never expected to have friendly conversation with Natasha, the closest thing she had to a mortal enemy.

"Oh she's got a few new tricks up her sleeve, trust me. She's still not at the top of my list though."

"You've got a list now?" Will turned her head to stare at Natasha, intrigued.

"Oh yeah I've had that thing for years. Lets me keep track of my favourite girls for when feel like some company."

"Just curious here, but who's at the top?"

"You are." Will stopped in her tracks on the stairs, caught more than a little off guard by Natasha's announcement.

"I'm at the top?" Will managed, confounded. "How does that work, I've only been with you what, twice?"

Natasha stared at Will with that infuriating look of silent laughter in her eyes. Those damned eyes were laughing at her. In their depths Will could see the ocean, the waves crashing and rolling with the tune of the laughter in the eyes. Those eyes were... those eyes...

'Dammit!' Will screamed at herself silently. This was one of the reasons she hated Natasha. The woman had mastered the art of seduction to such a level that all you had to do was look her in the eyes and she could have you tied up to a bed and gagged before you knew what had happened. She was sure it worked just as well on guys too, if Natasha wanted it to.

Quickly checking to make sure she was NOT tied up to a bed, Will sighed. "Anyway, you were saying something?" Making an attempt at nonchalance, Will continued walking, making sure to give less chances for Natasha to work her wiles.

Natasha grinned, knowing exactly what Will was trying to do, she had done it to her before, after all. "Yeah, like you said, I've only had you a couple times, but you made a big impression. Even if you weren't exactly the most active, you were definitely the most responsive. Mmmmmmmm! It was so much fun making you squeal and squirm." Will only turned her head and blushed, widening Natasha's smile.

"Besides, you learned after a while, didn't you?" Natasha asked, her mouth getting wider as she pressed herself against Will. "I remember the last time, you took everything we threw at you and must've given it back double to all of us by the end of the night." Will only blushed some more at the praise, starting to smile and giggle as she remembered that night. Natasha was no slouch when it came to pleasing her guests.

"See," Natasha remarked at seeing the smile on Will's face. "we don't have to hate each other."

"I don't hate you Natasha." Will said, stopping and turning to look at her. "But it's not like I can let you just grab every new girl you see and drag her into your room."

"I don't grab every one of them, just the ones I like. Like that blonde girl who came in the other day, you literally dragged me away from her."

"Hey, I told you that day that she's mine." Will said. "The only girl that's having their way with her is me." Will meant business and her eyes, though a little rusty, were saying just that.

"Okay, whatever calm down." Natasha said, backing off. "But what does it really matter to you if I take some random girl up to my room with me? That's exactly what I did with you and you turned out okay didn't you?"

"Yeah, whatever." Will slouched and continued forwards. "I guess I'll try and stay out of your way."

"Oh come on Will, don't be like that." Natasha urged, following her. "Would you wait up for a second?"

"What do you want?" Will asked impatiently.

"Well, since you've got a new squeeze and all, I might as well hang up the hopes of you ever knocking on my door." Natasha began strangely. "If you don't mind, though, could I take one last thing from you?"

Will made the mistake of looking in her eyes. Rust was met by the waves of the deep blue sea, pleading, begging. So different were they from the mocking, almost insulting waves of a few minutes ago, the difference startled Will. "Go ahea-"

Will wasn't given the time to finish answering. Lip met lip in an explosion of pent up lust and anger. Natasha's tongue literally barged into her mouth and taking in the textures and tastes. As Will slipped her tongue into Natasha's mouth she could feel Natasha's imagination shift and knew that she had tasted the remnants of syrup still in Will's mouth.

Will felt herself being removed from the ground so she wrapped her legs around the same thing that her arms were wrapped around, Natasha. Feeling her back hit the wall, Will gasped out of the kiss, then transferred her attentions to Natasha's neck. She bit and sucked and nipped and licked and kissed whatever skin she could get her mouth to. Moaning into Natasha's neck, Will soaked in the feeling of Natasha grabbing her breasts and caressing her ass. She drank the feeling up, swam in it, she nearly drowned in it. Nearly, for at that moment, Natasha decided that she was done.

She broke the kiss and stepped back, which caused Will to lose her grip and fall flat to the carpet. "Damn Will," Natasha said, grinning her trademark grin. "You definitely deserve that spot on my list. It's a shame you went with blondie." Her eyes were laughing again, as she turned and walked away.

"Oh that's real nice. Don't even offer to help me up!" Will cursed after Natasha's attractive retreating backside, groaning as it turned a corner and disappeared from view.

"Hey Will. What're you doing on the floor?" Hay Lin came skipping down a flight of stairs in her usual manner.

"Oh, nothing really." Will said, standing up and rubbing her bottom. "I just stopped and talked to Natasha."

"Natasha? I thought we didn't like her."

"Mostly, we don't, but she's not so bad sometimes." Will grinned and started walking. "Come on Hay Lin, let's go get some coffee or something."

Hay Lin jumped at the mention of her favourite drink and started after Will immediately.

* * *

This chapter is dedicated to whoever actually reads it, because I don't think that there are really going to be many of you after I took so long to put this out.

I love you guys, I love that you love this story, and I'll see you next chapter, whenever it is I decide to get working on that. Hope you had fun reading and I hope you review.

Kthanxbai.


	8. Chapter 8

Hey everybody, I'm back again! Sorry for the wait again, friends. Enough with the apologies though, here we go.

* * *

Cheesecake

"Where the HELL are they?!" More and more boxes of shoes, dresses, pants, shirts, and various other items of clothing were thrown this way and that around Cornelia's bedroom." I saw them yesterday! They were in this room, now where in the blazes did they go! AAAAAIIGH!!" The beauty screamed in unbridled rage, continuing her assault on closet.

Tentative footsteps approached the doorway. "Cornelia, honey, what's the matter." Mr. Hale said slowly as he crossed into his enraged daughter's room. He took a step back at the sight. Her room had been in a right state many times before, but this was on a whole new level.

"What's the matter?" Cornelia turned to her father, and he swore he saw her left eye twitch. "What's the matter? I can't find my pants is what's the matter!!" Mr. Hale barely moved to the side in time to avoid the pair of three inch heels that came careening his way.

"Cornelia, you're wearing pants right now and I see four, five, six, seven, eight; eight pairs of pants on your bed alone. There's probably over twenty all around the room."

"No, dad you just don't understand!" Cornelia shouted, rounding on the unfortunate man yet again. "On Friday last week, I went shopping with Irma."

"Sweetie, you go shopping with Irma all the time, now what does this-'

"No! Shut up I wasn't finished yet!" Cornelia was on the verge of growling at her poor father. "Last Friday, Irma and I went shopping and I bought this really cute pair of pants and I remember because they went perfectly with this belt right here." She held up a white belt which, Mr. Hale had to admit, did look very nice; as well as very expensive.

"Cornelia, you brought home four pairs of pants that day." Mr. Hale sighed; she could be so difficult sometimes. "Why are you making such a fuss over this anyway, I'm sure that belt would go just fine with any pants you have."

"You just don't understand!" Cornelia threw back at the cowering man. "Go get Mom, she knows better than you do!" Heaving, she sat down on her bed and glared at her father, waiting.

"Umm... honey, your mother isn't here." Mr. Hale spoke, a hint of pleading evident. "She won't be back form work for another two hours." The unfortunate man then flew from the room as an ice skating trophy came hurtling his way.

"Useless!" Cornelia grunted, standing up to continue her search, more calmly this time. Of course, she hadn't expected her father to be of any real help. He always had been clueless when it came to matters of fashion. In truth, her mother, (though she may be better than her husband) wouldn't have been of much help either. It was time to call in some real reinforcements.

* * *

"So, remind me again Cornelia, why did you call us over here at twelve thirty in the afternoon?!" Taranee asked, sipping her coffee and sounding thoroughly irritated. "It's Saturday and I'm not usually up today for at least another hour."

"Yeah, I had some serious cartoon watching going on." Irma whined along next to her. "As much fun as it is watching you stress, I'd much rather be at home with a bowl of Lucky Charms and some 'Pinky and the Brain' reruns."

"Like I told you on the phone, I have a date tonight and I need your help to find my pants!" Cornelia sighed, falling back on her bed opposite the chairs her friends sat in.

"Cornelia, you're wearing pants right now, so why do you need our help." Taranee said shortly, yawning.

"Christ you sound just like my dad!"

"Well we probably feel like he did if he was tired and annoyed at you for screaming and yelling so early." Irma threw her head to the side and refused to look Cornelia in the eye.

Against tradition, Cornelia did not stand up and start a shouting match, but sat up slowly, smirking slightly. "What are you complaining about Irma? You should be jumping up and down for joy."

"You don't make sense today." Irma said, confused. "I should've stopped for coffee on the way here." She hung her head with a sigh.

"But this was all your idea, Irma." Cornelia stood up, her best pleading face on. "Won't you stay and help me look." Irma turned right around; she didn't even have to ask her question. "My date tonight was all part of your idea; I thought you might want to help."

"Wait up," Taranee said, placing her coffee on a box beside her. "You got a date with that red head tonight?" Cornelia nodded and Irma broke out in a grin. "When did this happen?"

"Since there was no school yesterday, I dropped Lillian off at her day-care place, right?" The two nodded, urging her to continue. "Well it turns out; Will was there when I dropped her off. We got to a bit of chatting and now we've got dinner tonight."

"Very nice." Irma said a hint of skepticism in her voice. "Where at?"

"Some place downtown, I don't really remember what it was called." Cornelia said, her voice a bit shaky. She had heard this tone from Irma before, and it never turned out well for her.

"I knew it!" Irma shouted, standing up from her chair. "You don't even know where you're going do you?"

Taranee sighed as she stood up, looking down on Cornelia just as Irma was; except more calmly. "Cornelia, if we▓re going to pull this off you're going to have to start thinking a little bit more."

"She's right Corny." Irma jumped in before Cornelia could speak. "You told us all about what happened in that bathroom a few weeks ago. From the sounds of it she was in control the entire time and we can't have that anymore."

"You've got to be the one in the driver's seat, Cornelia." Taranee butt in. "You're completely new to this situation while she's probably been in it more than a few times. If you let her control everything, our little plan is royally screwed."

"I know, I know, I get it." Cornelia stood up, exasperated. "What do you guys want me to do about it; tell her everything she knows is wrong and we do what I want to do?"

"Oh no, not at all." Irma waved her index finger back and forth as she spoke. "Will is obviously a girl of good tastes and we never doubt good taste."

Taranee looked over at Irma, raising and eyebrow. "Irma, what are you going on about?"

"Well she is!" Irma took a deep breath, trying to ignore the looks her friends were shooting her way. "Let's look at the facts. Number one: Will's hot. No denying that one am I right?" Cornelia and Taranee just nodded signaling for her to continue.

"Number two: she might not wear high end stuff, but the girl manages to dress herself well enough every day, considering her likely limited budget. Any girl that can make herself look that good in cheap stuff deserves some props."

"And finally, number three: The girl's definitely knows how to pick 'em." Irma looked rather proud of herself. Having just put forth an explanation she thought deserved an award. She was quite upset when she saw the confused and angry look on Cornelia's face. "Hey, if I was gay I'd fuck you in a heartbeat; and I'm pretty sure Taranee thinks pretty much the same thing."

"Guilty." Was the only reply from the red faced Taranee.

"So what was the point of all that?" Cornelia asked. "You guys tell me that I've got to be the one in control, and then you tell me that I should just trust whatever Will says? That doesn't exactly make sense, Irma."

"No, you've got it all wrong again, Cornelia." Taranee spoke up again, her face blush free. "You can be in Control and trust what Will says at the same time." Taranee stood up, shaking her head at Cornelia's confused expression. She wondered how Cornelia could be this stupid and still not be failing everything in school.

"You need to assert yourself more Cornelia. Everything can't be Will's idea. Yeah, she has good taste, but so do you and it's about time you started using it." Taranee said, showing no signs of slowing down. "So go on your date tonight and have fun, but next time you go out with Will, make sure everything is your idea."

As Irma and Taranee stood up to leave, Cornelia realized something. "Wait!" She called after her two friends. They just poked their heads through her doorway. "I still haven't found my pants!"

Irma blinked a few times. "What pants Cornelia?"

"Last Friday you and I went shopping and I bought a pair of pants that went really well with this belt. In fact, that's the whole reason I bought them, I said so when we were out. ⌠She held up the belt just like she had with her father and waited for a reaction.

The reaction she got was Irma bursting out laughing. "What are you laughing at?" She screamed at her hysterical friend. She looked to Taranee for some sort of explanation, but the other girl just shrugged her shoulders.

Calming down after a short while Irma looked at Cornelia, trying quite hard to keep a straight face she said simply. ⌠Cornelia, you're wearing those pants right now." With that, Irma and Taranee turned and left, while Cornelia looked down at her legs to confirm the story.

She stood in front of her full body mirror and held the belt to her waist. "So I am." Cornelia groaned, and then she hit her head on her wall a few times.

* * *

Cornelia drove past restaurant after restaurant with no clue which one she was looking for. All their names and all their signs jumbling around inside her little head only served to confuse her further. She was certain she'd be late if she didn't find the place soon. A red light gave her a much needed excuse to stop and think things through.

"Okay, what the hell. I must've driven past every single restaurant in this God forsaken town." She closed her eyes and let her head fall against the steering wheel while she cursed Irma and Taranee for being right. "Why didn't I write this down somewhere?" She groaned into the wheel.

Cornelia's eyes shot open and she literally kicked herself for forgetting that she did have it written down. Will had given her all the information the last time they saw each other. "Stupid, stupid Cornelia how did you forget that?!" She shouted at herself, kicking some more. Jamming her hand into her purse, she quickly pulled out the slip of paper Will gave her. When she saw what was written there she hit her head on the wheel again, the horn going off this time. She had passed that place not five minutes ago. The light turned green and she set off in a hurry.

* * *

Cornelia was rather proud of herself. Even after she had forgotten where she was supposed to be and gotten lost going there, she still made it to her destination fifteen minutes early.

Once inside, the restaurant flooded Cornelia's mind with memories of birthdays, baptisms, and even a few Bar Mitzvahs with her parents Jewish friends. The place was called Stargazers and her family would always come here for special occasions. They had stopped the tradition in recent years, though Cornelia wished they hadn't. They had some of the best food in the city and Cornelia absolutely loved it.

The place wasn't cheap though, so she had never gone just for a date. She couldn't help but wonder if this place was in Will's budget.

"Can I help you miss?" A man behind the reception desk asked Cornelia. "Miss? Can I help you?" He asked again when she didn't answer him.

"Oh, hello." Cornelia responded nervously. "I'm actually supposed to be meeting someone here, but I don't see her anywhere."

"Name please." The man asked, very bored and annoyed.

"My name?" Cornelia asked tentatively, not wanting to anger the man behind the desk. "Or do you need my date's name?"

Just as Cornelia was sure the man was losing his patience, she saw Will's unmistakable crimson mop walk around a corner and into view, followed by the rest of her. She was wearing a black skirt that looked like silk with a white blouse and a black vest overtop of it. She also wore black pantyhose and a pair of simple black dress shoes. Cornelia immediately felt underdressed. Will turned to look at the desk quickly made her way over with a smile.

"Nice timing Cornelia, my shift just ended." Will said as she approached the desk. "Just sit her down at a table for two while I change, will you Barry?"

Barry nodded and stood up from his chair, still looking very annoyed, but compliant nonetheless. He motioned for Cornelia to follow him as he made his way quickly to a table set for two. "There we are table for two." He said doing his best not to sound aggravated. "Will you be having anything to drink or any appetizers before your dinner?"

"Just some water will be fine thank you." Cornelia responded, perusing the menu. "I'll wait until Will comes back before ordering anything."

"As you wish." He walked slowly towards the kitchen and returned before too long with a pitcher of ice water in his hands. Without saying a word he deposited the pitcher on the table and left to take another customer's order.

After a few minutes of waiting, Will slid into the seat across from Cornelia, the only change in her dress being the removal of the vest. Looking around, Cornelia quickly noticed that all the waiters and waitresses were wearing. Will quickly poured herself a glass of water and downed it without breathing. She removed the glass form her mouth, relaxed her shoulders, and sighed a sigh of relief. "So," She asked, pouring another glass of water. "how was your day?"

"It was okay I guess pretty average." Cornelia wasn't used to this kind of Smalltalk on dates. She usually dated guys who didn't talk much; they had always been more into the physical aspects of a relationship. "I had a bit of a crisis this morning about finding some pants but it turned out it was no big deal."

Will said nothing right away, she instead focused on pouring herself another glass of water, frowning when an ice cube landed in her glass and splashed her. "Oh yeah," She said, placing the pitcher and glass back on the table. "what happened? I want to hear about it."

"Really?" Will nodded, smiling. "Okay here goes."

"I knew almost exactly what I wanted to wear tonight and I didn't want to tear my room apart trying to find my outfit so I put the big things aside first thing this morning when I woke up. By lunchtime I forgot all about that, tore my room apart, yelled at my dad, called my two best friends in to help, all to find out that I was already wearing the pants I was looking for the entire time."

To Cornelia's surprise, Will didn't burst out laughing as Irma had; she merely chuckled and sipped her water. She opened her mouth to reply when she was interrupted by their waiter. "May I take your orders, ladies?" He asked, trying to sound as polite as possible. Will's eyebrow twitched when she heard his voice.

"Yes, thank you Matthew." Will sat up straight, fixed her skirt and spoke as politely as she could. "I'll have the lasagna, cheese on my garlic bread, and I'll just stick to the water to drink."

"And for your..." The waiter paused and gulped quite audibly. "date." He seemed to shiver as he spoke the last word.

"I'll have the grilled salmon with a greek side salad and I'll keep to my water as well." The waiter, Matthew, quickly wrote down the orders and walked away seeming a bit put out. "What's his deal?" Cornelia asked, pouring herself a glass of water.

"Don't mind him, that's just Matt Olsen. I think he's in love with me." Will paused and pondered for a moment. "Either that or he's a stalker, could be a bit of both. Seeing me on a date with a girl likely crushed his hopes and dreams."

"How do you figure he's a stalker? Could be a coincidence couldn't it?" Cornelia frowned when she took a bit of one of the complimentary breadsticks. The thing was stale as hell.

"Could be I guess. I met him at school once, a week later he moved into an apartment two doors down from mine. I started working here and a week later so did he. If I ever eat here, he manages to be my waiter, and I swear he follows me every time I go to visit my friend Will. I glance back and I see him skulking about six feet behind me. It's a little freaky."

"Yeah, I probably would've clubbed him with something by this point." Will giggled at that. It was not unlike the giggles Cornelia or Irma had used many times in the past to help in hurrying their boyfriends along. Cornelia found it strangely cute. She wondered briefly if that was how guys thought when she had used the same tactic on them.

Smiling against her own will, Cornelia was about to respond when her food was placed in front of her. She looked around to see the retreating form of Matt the stalker/waiter. "That was quick." She looked at her salmon, grilled to perfection how had they done that in such a short time.

"Yeah, Kelly's a god damn magician in her kitchen. Plus we aren't too busy tonight. Never really are unless someone got married or graduated or baptized or what have you. So the service is usually fairly quick here. Now if you'll excuse me, I have food to eat."

As it turned out, Will was not a very social eater. Her lasagna and garlic bread received her full attention for the next twenty something minutes. She didn't even look up to answer Matt when he came around to ask about refilling their water. Instead she just handed him the pitcher and waved him away.

"Will you be having any dessert then?" Matt asked when he noticed the two girls had both finished.

"I'll have the strawberry cheesecake." Will answered quickly.

"I'm fine thank you." Cornelia replied. She didn't want to bring the bill to high.

"You sure you're good?" Will asked. Cornelia nodded. "The desserts here a freakin' ridiculous, just so you know." As if to prove Will's point, Matt returned quickly, carrying a single piece of strawberry cheesecake, drizzled with strawberry sauce and topped with a lone, chocolate dipped strawberry. Cornelia's mouth watered a bit.

Will wasted no time. Right away she plucked the strawberry form atop her cake and slowly suckled all the chocolate away before biting into it and letting out a tiny moan of satisfaction. The whole time she had been glancing surreptitiously at Cornelia and before long, the blonde was rather jealous of that strawberry. "You sure you don't want any?" Will asked, placing only the very top of the strawberry with the leaves down on her plate beside the cheesecake.

"Well, maybe just a piece." Her voice wavered slightly but she reached her fork across the table anyhow, until it was swatted away by Will.

"No, We'll do this my way, now lean over close to me, close your eyes and open your mouth." Cornelia, though baffled, did as she was instructed. She really wanted that cheesecake. "Trust me, this stuff tastes better when you can't see it."

Instead of cheesecake, Cornelia was surprised to fell Will's lips against hers, the girls tongue poking around inside her mouth, dancing with her own. Before Cornelia could really respond to what was happening, Will pulled away and a piece of cheesecake found its way into Cornelia's mouth.

She opened her eyes to see Will across from her, giggling away. Instead of retaliating in any way, Cornelia decided to sit back and enjoy her cheesecake. This, incidentally, was the best she had ever tasted.

The rest of the night passed in much the same fashion and ended with a long, very drawn out goodbye.

* * *

A/N: Hey everybody how're we all doing' today? I would like to apologize for the wait, which ended up being about four and a half months longer than it should've been. I joined the Navy though and duty calls and all that jazz.

I can't make any guarantees about the next chapter. Partly because of work and partly because I can't figure out how to make the keyboard on my laptop make question marks. That's the main problem.

I guess you'll hear from me when you hear from me, and that's pretty much it.

So, enjoy and R&R.


	9. Chapter 9

The Fall Begins

''So,'' An arrogant, male voice permeated Will's semi-consciousness. ''I take it you enjoyed yourself last night?'' Will slowly opened her eyes only to snap them shut quickly, groaning. The intruder had thought it nice to open all the curtains in her bedroom. Will was not so inclined; unintelligible words of dismissal barely escaped her lips while she shifted to better bury her face in her pillow.

''I'm not going anywhere young lady.'' The man spoke again, pompous as ever. ''At least not until you get up and start talking.'' He waited, and waited; receiving only groans and mumbles he decided he was done messing around.

''Will, up!'' The man spoke forcefully, all smugness gone from him. To enforce his new attitude, Will's covered were torn from her body and she was rolled off her mattress when it found itself on an angle it definitely was not supposed to be on.

''Ow!'' Will's chocolate eyes snapped open in pain and anger. Fighting the light to keep them open, she managed to recognize Rich across her room and she groaned some more. ''Two questions." First, what time is it?''

''One thirty in the afternoon.'' Will wanted to kill that little bounce in his voice as he said that. It gave him some kind of sick satisfaction to beat anyone at anything. Even something as small and pointless as being awake before her made Rich smile like an idiot. It was the only real complaint she had about the guy, he was great otherwise.

''Fair enough.'' Will sighed, she wasn't usually this late. ''Second question, what are you doing my room?''

''Hay Lin was bored.'' Will snorted in laughter and looked at him with disbelief. ''I know, I had trouble believing it too. Anyway, like I said, she was bored and wanted to come visit you.''

''That doesn't answer my question. I asked why you were here.''

''Hay Lin also didn't want to walk all the way here.'' Rich hung his head in shame. He'd even been practicing his anti-begging measures lately, making it all the worse.

''One of these days we need to learn how to say no to that girl.'' Will said, shaking her head. ''Otherwise she's going to rule the world by the time she turns twenty.''

''Yeah, but until then, she's waiting in the kitchen, come on.'' Rich looked to Will expectantly.

''Can I at least put some pants on first?'' Will asked, gesturing to her bare legs and bright red panties.

'' Yeah that'd probably be a good plan.'' Rich chuckled, turned smoothly on his heel, and left the room.

Now, when Rich had said that Hay Lin was waiting in the kitchen, Will had taken that to mean that Hay Lin was sitting in one of the stiff, wooden chairs, arms crossed, foot tapping out a quick beat on the linoleum floor, and a sour, impatient look to top it all off. Will had, of course, failed to take into account who she was dealing with. For she had not expected to smell the aroma of stir-fry. She had not expected to see what looked like teriyaki sauce cementing rice to the counter. Nor had she expected to hear what sounded like Will vomiting in the washroom to her right.

''Hay Lin, what did you do in here?'' Will questioned sternly, looking down at the girl on her stiff, wooden chair.

''I was just trying to make everyone some lunch.'' Hay Lin sounded like a child who had hurt her dog on her first day playing with it. ''I wasn't trying to get him sick, honest! I guess I'm just not a very good cook.''

Will examined the girl, her head hung, her face downcast, and her eyes on the verge of tears. Sighing in defeat Will approached Hay Lin slowly. She really did need to learn how to say no to the girl. ''That's stupid.'' She spoke plainly. ''I've had your cooking tons of times and it's always awesome. What did you put in there?''

''Just normal stuff,'' Hay Lin managed between sniffs. ▒▒Rice, peppers, mushrooms, beef, some sauce. Why?''

''Where'd you find the beef? There wasn't any in the fridge was there?'' Will tried to remember the last time her mother had put meat into anything she cooked.

''It took me a while but I found some in a green container at the back, behind the mayo and the milk.''

Realization quickly dawned on Will's face and she laughed. ''Hay Lin that beef probably went bad weeks ago.'' She watched as the curiosity came into Hay Lin's face, followed slowly by a small smile. ''When my mother and I moved here we packed up our stuff in a hurry without really looking at what we were packing.''

''She had been planning on making some sort of soup with that stuff just before we moved but never got the time. I guess we just packed it into the back of the fridge and forgot about it.''

"So, you've had bad beef sitting in your fridge since you moved here?'' Will said, walking out of the washroom. His face was a bit pale but he seemed fine otherwise. ''How did we not smell that?''

''Well I thought I smelled something funny when I opened the container but I thought it was just a different marinade.''

''Well if you want to call festering blood and all the other crap that's piled up in there a marinade then I guess that works.'' Hay Lin chuckled at Will's words; slowly beginning to cheer up. ''Now, what do you say we get the hell out of here? This place is depressing;'' Will cast a quick glance around the small kitchen. ▒▒Not to mention disgusting.''

''Shouldn't we stay and clean up?'' Hay Lin asked, rising from her chair. ''Your mom will get angry if we just leave it like this.''

''Let her whine.'' Will said, quickly throwing on a sweater. ''I clean up after her and her boyfriends all the time. The least she can do is clean up after you guys once.''

''I guess that makes sense.'' Hay Lin quickly agreed. ''I just don't like thinking that I made you get into another fight with your mom.''

''You're sweet Hay Lin.'' Will said as she slipped into her shoes. Hay Lin's face flushed the slightest shade of pink. ''But she and I always find something to fight about. If it wasn't the mess in the kitchen, she'd find something else to be angry at me about, so don't worry about it.''

''As long as this makes sense to somebody.'' Will mumbled on his way to the door.

''Are you feeling left out?'' Rich asked. Coming up form behind, he locked Will in a tight embrace. ''I'll fill you in on the way puke boy.'' He planted a quick kiss on Will's cheek and sped out the door, motioning for him to follow. Will just sighed and followed, all the while thinking that things were so much simpler before girls got involved.

* * *

Hundreds of people milled about the crowded street. Jumping from shop to shop they bartered, they bargained and some even baffled. Deals and sales were being called out almost constantly and more than a few found themselves tossed about by the rush of the mob to the best prices. ''Why are we here again?'' Will asked for the fourth time. ''All these people are making almost claustrophobic.''

''Well,'' Hay Lin said, browsing through the various wares. ''When we left your place nobody really knew where they wanted to go. But I did so you all followed me.'' She stopped talking and focused her full attention on browsing.

''Besides, the street market rocks. They have some of the coolest stuff that you could never find in the mall or anywhere like that. Cheap too!'' Rich came from behind the two girls with two bags jammed full of merchandise and a large, bright red sombrero upon his head. ''Here, I bought this for you.'' He reached onto his head and quickly placed the garish thing atop Will's already crimson mop.

''Great, as if my hair didn't make me stand out enough; now you've gone and super-sized it.'' She struck a pose for Will and his camera before she punched Rich in the arm. ''Why didn't you buy your boyfriend anything? You can't give me all the presents.''

''Trust me, he got his present.'' Rich gave a grin and a giggle. The tone alone made Will shudder and she searched around for something else to occupy her mind. She really didn't want to imagine what the present was. Though, knowing Rich, he was just trying to mess with her head and he really just bought him a hat.

She spotted Hay Lin haggling for some art supplies through a quick parting in the crowd and began making her way over. Though fighting her way through the waves of criss-crossing bodies proved difficult. More than once Will was almost knocked to the ground, and she knocked one or two people down herself. When she arrived at the booth where she had spotted her friend, the young girl had moved on to a new spot, out of Will's view. ''Damnit!'' She cursed aloud and turned to search again. During her turn she ploughed straight into someone and they both went down.

''I'm so sorry about that.'' Will started saying as she stood up and knocked the dust off of herself. ''I didn't break anything did I?''

The young woman stood up quickly, and, in similar fashion, dusted herself off before speaking. ''That,'' She began. ▒▒Is a terrible hat.'' She pointed to the red blob that had fallen during the collision.

''Hey, it wasn't my idea.'' Will defended. ''My jackass friend decided it would make a nice present, especially for me.'' She lifted the hat from the ground and placed it back on her head. ''Can you guess why?''

''Nope.'' The stranger laughed ever so slightly. ''I wouldn't wish that thing on anyone. And I don't know anyone that would consider that thing a gift.'' The girl looked slightly upward, contemplating something for a moment. ''Okay, well there might be a few people I might think deserve to wear something that ugly.'' She briefly checked that items in her one bag to make sure that nothing had been damaged in the collision.

"The name's Irma." The girl offered with a smile, holding out her free hand. "Irma Lair, if you want to get formal. Let's walk and talk"

"Will Vandom." Will returned the smile and shook the hand as they began walking around the market. "Or Wilhelmina if you must."

"Isn't your name kind of behind the times?" Irma asked with a raised eyebrow. "Seems more like the two hundred years ago kind of name."

Will sighed. "Did I mention that I hate my name? It was all my mother's idea, and even she never calls me that."

"I can imagine why. If I ever have kids, all their names will be five letters or less. I'm not going to shout myself hoarse calling them all down before I can even start yelling at them. I always wonder how Corny's parents managed to do it all those years."

"Corny?" Now it was Will's turn to question names. "I'd say that's a smidge weirder than Wilhelmina wouldn't you?"

"Sorry. Her actual name is Cornelia. I just call her Corny because it's a whole lot easier. Probably the same reason everyone calls you Will."

"I don't know, I kind of like the name Cornelia." Her face flushed slightly, a fact that did not escape Irma's notice, as few things did.

"Yeah, it sounds nice and all, but it doesn't exactly roll off the tongue does it?" Irma countered. Will didn't answer and from the look in her eyes, Irma could tell her mind was elsewhere. "Hey!" She snapped her fingers in Will's face, bringing the girl back from whatever it was she was dreaming. Irma saw her face flush slightly once again and she wondered what exactly she was daydreaming about.

"Do you want to get out of here?" Irma offered. "I'm meeting a few of my friends pretty soon and I want to introduce you."

"Well, I would, but I'm here with a few friends of my own and I don't want them to think that I ditched them."

"So call them up and tell them you've got something to take care of. I'm sure they'll forgive you." She seemed quite intent on Will meeting these people. "You do have a phone don't you?"

"Never leave home without it." Will said, extracting her phone from her pocket and sounding irritated. "Mother's number one rule." She drafted up a quick text message to Hay Lin saying that something had come up at home and that she'd see her tomorrow. "Let's go."

"Hold on just a second there, girl." Irma called. "I'm not going anywhere with you if you're going to be wearing that thing." She indicated the horrid red hat still atop Will's head.

"Fine, fine, it's coming off." Will quickly took the hat off and shoved it in her shopping bag. "Can we go now?"

"Yeah, I think we're good now." Irma gave her a quick visual check. "Off we go!"

The two girls hadn't made it more than ten blocks before they came across the accident. From the whispers of the crowd someone had stolen a car and was running from the police. They had taken this road because it wasn't usually busy at this time of day. But some poor woman had been on her way home from work when the man tore through the intersection and almost broke her car in half.

The police, in their haste to catch him, even added one of their cars to the pile-up. The officer wasn't severely harmed, but the same could not be said for the thief or the woman.

Irma, with her natural curiosity, wanted to see the damage first hand instead of hearing about it from some people in a crowd or on the news. She pushed through the crowd and dragged Will along with her. A look of wonder took over her face when she saw the scene and she quickly grabbed her cell phone and began snapping pictures.

Irma looked beside her when she heard a gasp and saw Will with a look of pure horror, her face white as a sheet. "What's wrong Will?"

"That's..." She couldn't seem to bring herself to say it. "That's... my mother's car." Irma's features paled just a bit, she lost the large grin she had worn seconds ago and she watched as Will bounded over the yellow tape and ran to the pile of twisted steel and melted plastic.

The police tried to pull her back, but not before she saw her mother's corpse, crushed against the door of her car.

* * *

I hope you guys enjoyed that. I really don't think it was as good as it could have been; but I felt guilty about not posting anything for awhile and I kinda forced this one out. I hope it's up to par with the rest of the story.

GD


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Cornelia couldn't remember the last time her day at school had been so peaceful, so perfect. There had been no troubles, no problems, no minor annoyances, nothing to wipe the smile from her flawless face. It was unheard of in regular life, let alone within the walls of the Sheffield Institute.

"Cornelia, are you feeling okay?" Asked Taranee, just behind her, struggling to keep up with the pace the taller girl was setting. "You seem like you're locked in a daydream. A rather happy one at that." Taranee groaned as she had to squeeze between another group of students. Everyone seemed to shift aside for Cornelia, but as soon as she was past, they'd bunch in the center to block Taranee as quickly as they could.

"What was that, Tara?" Cornelia asked, snapping out of her trance for a moment. "I didn't quite hear you through the..." She drifted off, eliciting yet another exasperated groan from the friend behind her.

'Through the damn clouds no doubt.' Taranee growled in her mind. "I asked if you were feeling alright. You seem a bit out of it today."

Once again, Cornelia showed no sign that she had heard anything Taranee had said. The bespectacled girl growled aloud, earning her confused glances from the group of small children she muscled her way through. "Where the hell is Irma when you need her?" She said, a bit louder than she had originally intended. The mention of their mutual friend, however, did seem to catch Cornelia's attention.

"Did you say something about Irma?" Cornelia asked, stopping in her tracks, the smile gone from her visage. In it's place was a look of irritation.

Taranee, who was busy being hampered by a group of people maybe a year younger than her, did not see Cornelia stop and barely managed to sidestep before walking straight into her taller friend. "Wow, Tara, you need to watch where you're going."

"Yeah whatever." Taranee mumbled as she sat down on the window sill beside her, inciting Cornelia to do the same. To her displeasure, she did not. Cornelia opted instead, to stand tall, and look down on Taranee as they spoke.

"I was just wondering where Irma was today, or for pretty much the entire week. I haven't seen her since last weekend, and it's Friday. I was thinking that if anyone could pull you back down to Earth form whatever cloud you're riding on, it would be her."

Cornelia visibly flinched, and was visibly offended. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Taranee."

"Cornelia," the bespectacled girl started sternly. "up until now you've only been hearing one of every five words that I say, you didn't answer a single question in any of our classes, and you damn near spilled hydrochloric acid on me in Chemistry! You can't actually think I'm stupid enough not to notice that something's up."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Taranee." Cornelia said, a smile returning to her features as she lowered herself to sit on the window sill. "It's just that everything has been so perfect this week. There's been nothing to bring me down. No tests, no pop quizzes, no Irma, no Will, no anything bad at all. I guess I just got caught up in my happy place."

"Speaking of Will, you're right, I haven't seen your little redhead around all week either. What do you think happened?"

"I don't think anything happened, Tara. Will doesn't really strike me as the type to care too much about school anyway. It wouldn't surprise me if she decided to take a week off just for the hell of it."

"I'll take your word for it." Taranee gave a playful grin. "After all, you are the expert on that particular subject."

"Oh, will you just shut up about that already." Cornelia blushed profusely, looking down so as to hide her blush from Taranee.

"Why Cornelia, I thought I was the only one allowed to make you blush like that." Came an all too familiar voice from the girls' right.

"Speak of the devil, Irma, we were just talking about you." Taranee informed the new arrival, a massive, toothy smile on her dark face.

"Nothing bad I hope." Irma said shortly, plopping down on the window sill on Cornelia's other side. She had a grape juice box in her hand and bags under her eyes. It appeared that wherever she had been for the week, she had not gotten much sleep.

"No, you know, the usual stuff. How amazing you are, how your smile brightens even the darkest of rooms, how Caleb is slowly but surely falling in love with you." Taranee looked on expectantly, awaiting an embarrassed stutter for the crack about Caleb, or one of Irma's famous wisecracks. Instead, she received a bored stare from the other side of Cornelia.

"Seriously, is that the best you've got?" Irma questioned, her eyes somehow dull, lacking their usual mischievous spark. "I've had a bit of a rough week, and I'm tired as hell, you're gonna need a bit more than that to shake me up today."

"How can you have had a rough week?" Cornelia asked, her dreamy attitude slowly giving way to her usual confrontational nature. "You've had the entire week off school so far. What can possibly be so tragic about that?"

"I've had a bit of trouble sleeping okay." Irma was now the one looking down. She couldn't seem to bring herself to meet the eyes of her two best friends.

"Come on Irma, it has to be more than that." Cornelia prodded. "Your parents would never let you off school for almost a whole week just because you couldn't sleep."

Taranee also set her gaze on the brunette. "I'm with Cornelia. You're not telling us everything. Now spill!"

"I saw a woman die." Irma whispered. She didn't seem able to say it clearly, it was almost too much for her just to whisper it. Just the thought of the scene of the accident made her sick to her stomach, she paled visibly.

"You saw a what?" Cornelia and Taranee's responses were identical.

"Well, technically I didn't actually see her die, I saw her just after she died." Irma said very quietly. She took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself. "I was out at the street market downtown, just browsing around, sometimes they have some really cute stuff for cheap." She justified, seeing Cornelia's disapproving look. "When I was there, I ran into everyone favourite little redhead, Will."

"It looked like she was pretty much alone, so I introduced myself and invited her to come hang out with us for the day, I thought it would be fun if she got to know all of us instead of just you, Corny."

"Of course you did." Cornelia sighed. "Continue."

"I was planning on it." Irma shot back quickly. "Anyway like I said, I invited her to come hang out with us for the rest of the day and she went along with it. We were on our way over to meet you guys when we came across a big crowd in the middle of an intersection." She took another deep breath. "We pushed our way to the front of the crowd to see what was going on and it turned out it was a car accident." Another breath.

"I look over at Will and she looks like she's just seen a friggin ghost. She says that one of the cars in the accident is her mom's car. Before I was done processing that little nugget of info, Will had already jumped the yellow tape and was making a beeline for the car. She dodged through a pair of cops that tried to stop her, but when she got to the car she froze up. When the cops made to grab her again, she threw herself at the car door, screaming and crying and banging on the window."

Irma took a few breaths before continuing. "After about a minute, the cops finally managed to pry Will off of her mom's car and started dragging her over to their car. I jumped the tape myself to go try and get them to let her go and I caught a glimpse of what her mom looked like in her car."

"It was horrible, blood everywhere, all her limbs were at weird angles, and she looked like she was a part of the fucking steering wheel for God's sake." Her eyes began to water. "I broke down right there on the spot. Puked my guts out all over the road. It was the worst thing I've ever seen in my life."

"So that's why you've been away from school." Taranee managed to get out.

"Yeah, I guess my dad found out what happened from the cops at the scene. He said I could take a few days to rest, get my head on straight. He told me that the first time someone sees something like that it usually hits them pretty hard. And boy was he right. I couldn't lay down and shut my eyes without seeing either Will's face as she was trying to pound her way through the window, or her mom, broken, bloody and fused to her car." The tears were now flowing freely down her face, but she made no effort to wipe them away.

I figured that I had to come to school again eventually, and I remembered that I had something important to hand in to Ms. Lowitt today. So I figured that today was as good as any."

"Oh, God Irma, I'm so sorry." Cornelia's eyes were also watery as she embraced her lifelong friend. "I had no idea what happened, I'm so sorry about what I said."

"Oh forget about it, it's not me you should really pity right now." Irma admitted, returning the hug. "I can't even imagine how Will's feeling right now."

'Will...' Cornelia whispered the name in her mind, trying her hardest to imagine how the girl must be feeling. She didn't even want to think about losing either of her parents, and she definitely didn't think she could handle seeing them in the state that Irma had described. "I'm going to go check on her after school." She resolved.

"What?" Was all that Taranee and Irma could find the ability to say.

"I don't even want to think about losing my parents like that. Will is probably all alone right now, scared and sad. The least I can do now that I know is at least go make sure she's okay, and that she hasn't killed herself."

Taranee and Irma nodded. "You want us to come with you." Taranee asked.

"No, I'll go by myself. Irma should be at home trying to get clear of this, and Tara, you don't need to get yourself mixed up in it."

"If that's what you think is best, Cornelia." Taranee said. A deafening ringing came from just above the three girls, signalling the warning of five minutes to the start of the last period of the day. "Well, we should probably get to class." She said weakly. "You got that thing for Ms. Lowitt, Irma?" The girl in question nodded. "Then we should get going. Probably see you tomorrow Cornelia, since you seem like you going to be busy this afternoon."

Cornelia nodded and gave her friends an absent minded wave goodbye. Now, however, it was a different kind of absent mindedness than that which had plagued her mere minutes before. Gone was the unending bliss. Now there was only grief and a hint of fear. Grief for Irma, who saw what she had, Grief for Will, who had lost her only parent in such a brutal fashion. Fear, for herself, for she had no idea what to expect when she went to Will's house after she finished with her last class.

* * *

'It seems incredible that a day that started off so great, could drop to the other extreme so quickly.' Cornelia thought as she stood at the beginning of the walkway to the door of Will's apartment building. She made her way down the path as quickly as she could, hoping that it would work in much the same way that talking fast does for nerves in public speaking.

She had no such luck, though, she was just as nervous while standing in front of the intercom as she had been standing at the start of the walkway. "Well, it's all or nothing, Cornelia." She spoke aloud to herself.

She quicky located and dialed Will's resident code on the intercom system and waited, listening to the machine ring. After a time, Cornelia believed that there was nobody there. Or at least, nobody that wanted to speak with anyone else. She turned to walk away but a sound caught her attention and she stopped and turned herself around in one smooth motion. "Hello?" Came a weak voice from the speaker.

* * *

A week. Almost a full 7 days since Will had set foot out of the apartment. Her cellphone had been turned off, she disconnected herself from the internet. Any form of communication with the world outside had been cut. All Will wanted to do was stay like that, alone, for as long as possible.

Her days were spent curled into a ball on her mother's bed. No tears would fall from her rusty eyes, her tears had all left her long ago. Her nights were spent much the same way as her days. She was largely sleepless and when she slept, it was a sleep riddled with screams, steel grinding against steel and images of her mothers corpse.

She would eat when necessary, there was only so much food in the apartment, and she had no intention of leaving to buy more anytime soon. She was too weary to even ask herself what would happen when all the food was gone. There wasn't enough time to think that far ahead. There was only time for mourning.

She hadn't hated her mother by any stretch of the imagination. They had their rough patches, like any family. But when it was all said and done, her mother was all she had, and now she was gone. Her father, though she had yearned for his love all her life, never wanted anything to do with her. Her grandparents were dead, or so she had been told, so she could not count on them. 'You could always go to live with Rich, Will and Hay Lin.' Suggested a voice in Will's mind.

'That would require me to actually get up and leave here.' Will countered lamely. She gathered more blankets around herself and tried to drown out the voice which hadn't left her alone all the time she had spent in that place. It was her only company.

'You can't use that excuse forever, you know.' The voice came back, as preachy as ever. 'Eventually, either you're going to leave, or someone is going to come here for you. You can't shut the world out forever, Will.'

'As you've been telling me all week;' Will thought. 'and just like I've been telling you all week, I'll get out when I'm damn good and ready to get out.'

'So you say, but the rest of the world has a funny habit of not waiting until you're ready, before it forces itself on you.' With that, the voice faded into nothing. It had happened before, all it meant to Will was that she had at least a few hours of peace.

She layed there, hugging her knees to her chest, enjoying the quiet of her mind, when she was interrupted by her stomach. 'Well, I figure now's as good a time as any to eat something.' Will, dragged herself to the edge of the bed, put her feet on the floor and made her way slowly into the kitchen. On her way to the fridge, she almost fell over when the intercom began to ring. 'Who the hell is calling here?'

She supposed that it could be Rich, or Will or Hay Lin. After all the last communication she ahd had with any of them had been the text message she had sent Hay Lin just before she left the street market wiht that girl Irma. She stared at the device, simply allowing the ringing sound to fill the apartment.

Will didn't know what caused her to step forward. Perhaps it was that the voice's advice had finally penetrated her shield of grief. Perhaps it was just simple curiosity. Either way, just before the machine would have stopped ringing, allowing the apartment to fall silent again, Will stepped toward it and pressed the talk switch.

"Hello?" She tried weakly. Her voice feeble from lack of use.

"Will?" Came the reply from downstairs. "It's Cornelia." Will gasped. Of all the people that could have come to see her, it had to be her. "Will I'm worried about you. Irma came to school today and told me what happened last weekend. I came to make sure that you're okay."

"Well I'm fine, you can leave now." Will said coldly, her voice regaining some of its former strength. She was about to leave when Cornelia spoke again.

"Will, please." She pleaded. "I need to see you, to make sure. Can I come up?"

"Fine." Will sighed and pressed the button that would unlock the door for Cornelia. 'That damn voice is driving me crazy.' Crazy or not, she sat in one of the chairs and began waiting, drumming her fingers against the table top.

Within minutes, there came a tentative knock at the apartment door. "It's open." Will called, still in her seat. Cornelia entered, shut the door behind her and rushed to where she had heard Will's voice coming from. She stopped when she entered the kitchen. Stopped and stared.

Will glanced up to meet her eyes and saw what Cornelia was feeling. She had lied over the intercom, she knew it, and now Cornelia knew it too. She was far from alright.

Before she knew what happened, Cornelia's arms were wrapped around her, and the blonde girl was crying. "I'm so sorry, Will." Cornelia said into her shoulder as she soaked it with her tears. "I'm so sorry."

Something in the way Cornelia embraced her struck a chord somewhere deep within Will's heart. This girl could cry for seeing her in the state she was in, yet Will could not cry for the death of her own mother. Something within Will changed in that moment. Her eyes regained some of their old light, and her greif slowly began to change into something else. "Don't be sorry, Cornelia. you didn't have anything to do with it." Will assured Cornelia as she wrapped her arms around her, completing the embrace.

"But I-" Cornelia removed her head from Will's shoulder and looked her in the eye. "I was stuck in my perfect little world while this was happening to you and I didn't even give a thought to why you weren't at school. I was acting like you never existed!" She shouted and more tears began to flow.

"Shhhh." Will urged the sobbing girl to be quiet. When that failed, she placed a light kiss on her lips. The noise ceased instantly. 'Well, that worked rather nicely.' She stood up, bringing Cornelia with her, and took her hand to begin to lead her out of the kitchen area.

"Will, where are you taking me?" Cornelia questioned, pulling back slightly.

"Please." Will pleaded, looking back into Cornelia's eyes. "I need this." Cornelia nodded and stopped resisting, allowing Will to lead her to her bedroom.

She didn't resist when Will pushed her down onto the bed; her golden locks splayed out beneath her atop the frog patterned sheets of Will's bed. (She had giggled when she had first laid eyes on them.) She didn't resist when Will joined her on the bed, staddling her waist and positioning herself so her face dangled over Cornelia's; her crimson hair creating a curtain on both sides, blocking Cornelia's view of anything but Will.

The thought of resisting didn't even enter her mind when Will planted another kiss on her lips, this one heavier than the last. The readhead's tongue darted into her mouth for but an instant, then it was gone, as was Will's mouth from hers.

Instead, Will now trailed kisses down her jawline, her collarbone, and up to the top of her breasts where Cornelia's shirt impeded her progress. With some help, the offending piece of fabric was swiftly removed, as was the lacy bra hiding underneath. Before continuing, Will quickly removed her own shirt and br as well, letting her breasts free,and bringing herself equal with Cornelia.

The kisses quickly resumed. Will paused to pay special attention to Cornelia's breats and nipples, earning a small moan and a quickening of breath from the goddess beneath her. She grinned into Cornelia's breasts before continuing downward, trailing kisses all down her stomach, undoing her belt and removing her jeans at the same time.

Cornelia gasped when the air of the room contacted her panties, already slightly wet from the working of Will's lips and tongue. She looked up to see Will removing her own pants, before the girl lowered her head and hands to between her legs and began to rub and prod and lick through the thin barrier of Cornelia panties, bringing out a series of quiet moans of ecstasy.

In a flash the panties were gone, discarded to join the rest of her clothing somewhere in the room. Cornelia gasped, all her breath leaving her as she felt Will's tongue breach her lower lips. It swirled inside of her, and her breathing quickened yet again as she began to feel a heat building in the pit of her stomach. "Oh God it's so good." Cornelia managed to say in between gasps and moans.

The heat in her stomach intensified and started to spread, she arched her back and bucked her hips in an effort to bring Will's tongue closer, deeper into her. Will seemed to know what she wanted,and added one finger inside of her, then another. The fingers pushed in and pulled out, deeper each time it seemed, while the mouth moved slightly, to tongue and suck on Cornelia's clit.

Cornelia coudln't speak anymore, she could barely see. All she could do was writhe and scream Will's name in pleasure as the girl worked with what seemed to be endless vigor. She stretched out her legs and brought them, back, wrapped around Will's head, forcing it closer, to give her more.

The heat that had begun in her stomach had pread though all of her body, and was quickly coming to it's breaking point. One more flick of Will's tongue, one more pump of her fingers, was all it took to send her over ther edge. She screamed out Will's name one last time as she came. Her juices flowed quickly and freely from below, she looked down to see Will, her face wet both from sweating and from the work she had been doing. A small smile graced her lips and she began to crawl back onto the bed, crawling until her face was even with Cornelia's again.

Will lowered her had and kissed her again, this one lasting longer, her tongue lingering inside Cornelia's mouth, allowing the girl to taste herself. When she broke the kiss, she saw Cornelia with tired smile on her face, and she watched as she fell asleep in her bed.

Will decided that now was as good a time as any to sleep, and laid her head down in the valley of Cornelia's breasts. She sighed contentedly and closed her eyes, with a single happy tear running down her face.

* * *

AN: Well everybody, look who's back in town! I've been gone for a rather long time haven't I? Anyway, I'm back, complete with a new chapter written in my new apartment. I hope that my work here is up to snuff. I've never really written mourning before, and I've never had to go through it myself so I hope I did well enough in the small portion that I gave to Will's grieving. Also, I hope the lemon there was good, I've never done a femslash lemon before so I was a bit nervous about this one.

Well, let me know what you think, I can't make any guarantees about the next chapter, so try not to get your hopes too high.

R&R,

GD.


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